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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26869462">Free Falling</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/smashthemirror/pseuds/smashthemirror'>smashthemirror</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Lost Boys (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>All the swearing, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Romance, F/M, Humor, Mates, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Multiple Partners, Polyamory, Recreational Drug Use, Self-Esteem Issues, Slice of Vampire Life, Slow Burn, Smut, So Many Plot Twists, Threesome - F/M/M, Twisted Romantic Comedy, Vampire Sex, Vampires, destruction of tropes, vampires gonna vampire</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 19:07:08</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>172,202</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26869462</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/smashthemirror/pseuds/smashthemirror</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jinny's real life is too much, but what happens when her guilty pleasure fandom escape becomes reality and the characters are nothing like she imagined? Is it a fanfic writer's ultimate fantasy or worst nightmare?</p><p>Set after the movie, the Lost Boys have survived and moved on. They love their lifestyle, though things are getting out of hand. What happens when someone they never expect falls into their laps and changes everything?</p><p>This is going to be long and incorporate a lot - comedy, horror, a sly look at fanfic and genre tropes through the self insert lens, and eventual romance. </p><p>And yes, yes if this title rings a bell, it is likely what you're remembering and looking for.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dwayne (Lost Boys)/Original Female Character(s), Dwayne (Lost Boys)/Original Female Character(s)/Paul (Lost Boys), Paul (Lost Boys)/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Waking Up Is Hard to Do</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So heya, first time posting here. This is actually a really, really old fic that is still kicking around. It was originally written over a decade ago and pulled for a lot of reasons - mostly because at the time I got a lot of private harassment over not following people's suggestions, threats over not posting fast enough, and a lot of fandom infighting. I was going to repost in a private group, but even that got to be a ton of pressure, and at that point it felt like I just really didn't belong in the fandom at all.  I think there was the assumption that I pulled over a few comments, but that's not the case - it was the private harassment and demands at the time that pushed me over the edge, and I still have a lot of hesitation even inching back into The Lost Boys fandom again, so this is an extremely tentative experiment. It soured me on the whole thing, and it's taken a lot of time to get back to this point - I'll spare you the whole drama, but it was a lot. A lot of people seemed to like it, so when I found it I decided to edit and see what happened, see if it still holds up. To the three people who remember this - I am changing and editing some bits - some things just have not aged well and I realized I could do better, which is part of the reason for finally dredging this up again, as well. This is really long, and I'm hoping to eventually pick up where I left off and finish, so we shall see. I'd also appreciate this to not be reproduced anywhere unless I'm the one posting it - that was another point of contention long ago. Kudos and comments massively appreciated! I realize I'm approaching things through a somewhat different lens than a lot of people, and that's purposeful - this was always kind of a meta/experimental take on playing a self insert/ofc style fic straight and letting the personalities of the characters clash and see what happened. So if that and some terrible humor and smut is your thing, read on!</p><p>- smashthemirror</p><p>As always, I don't own any part of The Lost Boys, original characters and situations are my own demented imagination</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>          The alarm on her phone blared like always, and Jinny winced as the stupid, lilting sound that was supposed to be some sort of seaside theme pulled her from slumber. She hated the alarm with every fiber of her being. That blasted noise meant that she had to get up, had to stop dreaming, had to go back to the real world. Its saccharine, rolling tones meant work, errands, chores, and all the things she hated to deal with that ate up the time she'd rather spend dreaming, writing, or at least creating something besides thoughts.</p><p>           It didn’t help that the week had given her nothing worth waking up for. Somehow she’d thought when she’d finally moved out that she’d have some semblance of being an adult or at least some room to breathe. Leave it to her parents to call her asking for help with something every single day, and like the dutiful child she was, she showed up and got an earful on how she wasn’t applying herself enough. Never mind her little boutique was doing alright in the college tourist town she’d spent he whole life in, never mind she pulled all-nighters on side gigs and business courses.</p><p>            <em>I shouldn’t have gone to family dinner last night, </em>she sighed. Gwen, her perfect older sister with a law degree and an engagement ring had been there, and like clockwork when the conversation had gotten to her, the things she had to relate about her life were of no interest to anyone else around the table. It didn’t matter if she’d been balancing the store with writing on the side – she was still a college dropout. It didn’t matter if she tried to put herself out there and the dating scene was a terrifying minefield – it all came back on how she wasn’t mature and realistic enough. <em>No wonder I’d rather curl up with a good movie or fanfic, </em>she snorted and stretched under the covers. It also didn’t help that for whatever stupid reason half of her old graduating class from high school had rolled into town the week before for homecoming, driving home once again how she’d never gotten out and moved on like she’d bragged about.<br/>
<br/>
           The alarm blared again, and she winced. "Okay, fine. You win," she sighed and thrust her hand out from underneath the warm sanctuary of covers. It was her day off, even though it would be filled to the brim with catching up. Still, she’d fallen asleep reading some gratuitous fic and wasn’t in the mood to start her day right away. “What the hell, I’ve earned it. Too much reality is a bad, bad thing.” A somewhat annoyed frown crossed her mouth when her phone eluded her fingertips. Grumbling, she rolled over and stared at a tacky bedside table that she definitely didn’t own. It was made out of cheap pressboard that wasn’t supposed to look like real wood, and it had an equally generic lamp and a worn old Bible set half-heartedly on it. It was a fine attempt at a display, really, but what bothered her was that she didn't own that lamp, that Bible, that table, or the clock beside them. Her lamp was a bright purple holdover from college that balanced at the edge of her desk, and her phone always teetered on a plastic shelf set whose drawers fell out like clockwork every other morning.</p><p>           Her alarm went off again. “Geez, shut up,” she snarled and shut the noise off. <em>I</em><em>must still be dreaming or slept harder than I thought. </em>She sat up and stared from the little piece of cheap furniture to the actual bed she was in. The covers were itchy, slightly worn, and sterile with a hideous paisley pattern done in green and yellow. Definitely not her big puffy duvet cover and gravity blanket. Overstuffed pillows that also weren't hers had cradled her head and none of the stuffed animals she’d never admit to owning or other personal touches were to be in the room at all, unless the landlord had broken in and  gone overboard for some weird reason. The whole room was anonymous, its occupants able to be easily forgotten within hours. It had to be a motel room- she’d stayed in them enough for business and the occasional convention to know the tells. It was a cheap one at that. But...how...why?<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>           "Okay, let’s think about this. You didn't go out last night," There was no hole in her memory, no time lapse. She’d driven home in a huff, put on one of her favorite movies while downing a half pint of brownie ice cream. She remembered going to the bathroom, falling over the junk that always littered her bedroom floor, and finally getting to sleep in her own bed once her mind had beaten her up over her inadequacies for the usual amount of time.</p><p>           “I have no idea where I am or how I got here.” As her mind struggled to work her way around the situation, Jinny realized she was oddly calm about it. "I guess it's obvious," she told herself, shrugging weakly. I was kidnapped and dumped here. Not that they'll get much...whoever...wherever...shit," she cursed and slid out of bed, the improbability of that situation sinking in only once she had said those words aloud. At least she had her favorite lounge pants and sleep shirt with her; it was hard to be hysterical in a really comfortable pair of pajamas. As she paced she continued to assess the room, her eyes stopping at the packed suitcase and backpack that sat on a really ugly armchair. “I know I didn’t pack that, because there’d be three times as much if I did.” Jinny frowned and crossed to it, glancing up on the mirror above the nearby sink to make sure she wasn't in some anonymous wonderland. Not only did the mirror show no strange world on the other side, but it also showed no hint that she had personally changed, as well. She looked just like the always did. There were the same murky hazel eyes, the same shaggy, recently-dyed henna-red hair, the same thin mouth, the same skin that could use a few dabs of concealer. The only real noticeable aspect about her features was the bleary morning sleepiness and the quiet fear that was slowly building under her skin.</p><p>           The young woman shook her head and returned her attention to the suitcase and pawed through the few belongings she had. There were a few changes of clothes, a change of shoes, toiletries, a couple of books, some money but not enough for an extended stay, and bizarrely, her latest dabblings of fic that included a few fairly explicit finished pieces and one half-finished piece she had once been enthralled with writing. “Whoever kidnapped me sucks, why the hell would I want to remember this shit.” It had been the source of her falling out with fandom when she’d started typing up and posting it. Sure, people had loved the sex, but missed the plot and everything else she’d worked so hard to build entirely. She’d had enough drama getting her business off the ground and dealing with her family – she didn’t need constant emails demanding scenes about everyone’s personal lust wish. She was almost embarrassed by the half finish pieced. She hadn’t looked at it in years. At one time it had been an exercise into selfish writing, a guilty pleasure self-insert story disguised as a way of exorcising some of her complexes. She had never finished it, though, because of time and the fact that she just couldn't seem to be selfish in those terms. Who had she been kidding? It had become very obvious that she didn’t fit in with the cliques in the fandom and when it had really come down to it, it was impossible for her to see herself with anyone she was attracted to, even if they were fictional. “I swear to God if this is some sort of weird intervention I’m punching someone. I thought I’d left that all behind.” She <em>had</em>been thinking about it, had even gone looking for the half-finished files on her computer. She’d forgotten all about the raw version until she held the composition books in her hands.<br/>
<br/>
            "So I've got some clothes, a little money, and some really light reading. But nothing to show what's going on," Jinny grumbled, her lips pursing so hard that it seemed that her mouth disappeared right off her face. "No hints or clues, no ransom note, no instructions. Weird. Well whoever kidnapped me didn't do a great job of it." Out of habit, she glanced down at her phone and pulled up the weather. The name of the city for the local weather made her drop the device onto the hideous bedspread. “No. No way.” Shaking, she fumbled for the remote and turned on the television. The picture blurred then popped to life as it came up on the morning news.<br/>
<br/>
            A chirpy weather person that she didn't recognize was pointing to a part of the map that was as far away from where she lived as one could get without leaving the country. "And it's a beautiful morning here in Santa Carla, not a cloud in sight-"<br/>
<br/>
            She quickly hit the remote and sent the too-cheerful weather chick into the dark oblivion of the blank screen. "Okay...that's not so bad," she told herself as she began to wander aimlessly, fingernails digging into the skin of her fingerpads. “So I woke up in California? At least I know where I am!" she reasoned, trying to smile. "So I'm in Santa Carla in California. I’m in a city that really doesn't exist in a state across the country from where I live. Christ.” She dove back into bed and tossed the covers over her head, though the hotel smell on the sheets left something to be desired.  <em>Why the hell do these cheap motel rooms always smell like coconut?</em><br/>
<br/>
            "No worries. This is my fault for putting on the movie last night and being fed up. Glitches in the matrix happen, don’t they? At least that’s what they say on Buzzeed. When I wake up, I'll be back in my own room, and this will all be a really weird, delusional dream where my brain just happened to get stuck between daydreams and reality," she announced from underneath her nest of bed covers before she slowly opened her eyes and peeked out over the top of the scratchiest blanket. Nothing had changed. "Shit," she sighed and buried her head back under the covers.<br/>
<br/>
            By the time the sky had finally begun to turn a deeper shade of blue Jinny knew that it was no good sitting in her room clinging to the hope that she'd been kidnapped when there had been no attempt to keep her there at all. It was also no good pondering what was possible when could go out and see for herself. Somewhere she acknowledged that she'd rather read a dumb self-insert story than go out the door, but she wasn't about to waste such a bizarre opportunity.<br/>
<br/>
            It was easy enough to find the Boardwalk, but her mind kept wandering, even as she set foot in the classic setting from the movie. It was one thing to see it on film but to actually experience the real brightness of the lights, the truly incessant music that came from everywhere at once until all the tunes blended together in some kind of odd sampler of melodies - that was completely different. There were all sorts of smells and little conversations and pure energy that film could never capture. All of it surrounded and sucked her in. It overwhelmed her until she started to walk one way then would suddenly change her mind. She felt oddly insignificant, stuck perpetually in a background part. It made her feel a sudden, fierce empathy for all of those walk-on roles in the movie and made her wonder what their stories really were.<br/>
<br/>
            She was momentarily content to wander, though part of her kept feeling the urgency to check out <em>those </em>places, to look for <em>those</em>faces and see what they'd look like in the real Santa Carla Boardwalk lights. A little instinctual voice in her head screamed bloody murder, but for once she decided to ignore it. If she was suddenly popping up in random places, what good would common really sense do?<br/>
<br/>
            On the first sweep she found a lot of things that <em>looked</em>familiar, but none of the obvious landmarks. It was like going back to high school five years after graduation, or seeing the elementary school playground with different children on the swings. The night was quickly growing as her eyes searched and her feet moved, always looking for...something. She could faintly make out the song of the carousel, heard the screams from the Giant Dipper, but it was like a dream where she could hear her destination but couldn't quite get there. Or maybe her trademark inability at navigation had followed her to an alternate universe.<br/>
<br/>
            The whole situation was elusive and frustrating, but would have made a hell of a good sequence for a story. In frustration, Jinny paused beside a small building to catch her breath and some shred of sanity. Idly she noticed that the sign was advertising the establishment as an coffee shop with public internet access.  She blinked and looked again, then frowned. "What the hell?" </p><p>            True, just because it was Santa Carla or Santa Cruz or whatever the hell they were calling it didn't mean that it was 1987. Maybe she had some weird space-travelling ability and it had nothing to do with <em>The Lost Boys.</em>“Maybe they renamed the city. Maybe I’ve had a complete mental break,” she snorted. None of it meant that there were actually vampires roaming the streets. In the back of her mind it bothered her that in one story she had written there had been a coffee place right where the Frog Brothers comic store had once stood. Looking around, Jinny slowly admitted that it sure as hell looked like the right spot. She started to pull aside a passerby, but stopped herself. Maybe it was better not to know. "You're just being silly. It was a stupid story! You made it up! Get a grip!" she muttered, brushing off her panic attack as she slid inside. Maybe caffeine would help and if they had free wireless, so much the better.</p><p>           All of her emails bounced back. Shaking in a back booth, she ignored the conversations around her and went through her address book with trembling hands, texting and calling when none of her texts went through. When she left, her phone was on low battery in her pocket and she felt like she’d been run over by a tank.</p><p>          It didn't make any sense at all. She was still the same person, everything looked like the real world, but her parents' email, her sister's, every relative and friend she knew an address or phone number for came back all the same: no such address found or no such number.<br/>
Nothing. No numbers for her parents, no records of her address or apparently even herself, for that matter. She had diligently kept calling the friends who wouldn't think her deranged, and then any number she could remember. Her chest felt tight at the memory of all that ringing but no answers on the other end, or of disconnected messages or really bitchy people complaining at being woken up. But other than that, all she came away with was a seriously disturbed feeling and a stomach full of loneliness. There were no clues, no explanation as to why no one suddenly seemed to know her or be at home or even exist. It was a small consolation prize to know that apparently her landlord, her flakey business partner, the irritating neighbor lady, and a few other choice individuals didn't exist, either. There was sweet justice in that, though not enough to calm down her erratic breathing.</p><p>          She glanced out the smudged window to orient herself and think of some kind of plan when a small cluster of figures crossed her field of vision. Jinny frowned and shuddered at the chill that pulsed through the back of her neck. "No," she whispered and quickly pushed out of the door, nearly falling onto her face as she struggled to get out into the street. Before her little cautionary voice could open its big mouth she rushed after them, trying to keep some distance, just in case.<br/>
<br/>
           Even though she could only see their backs she recognized the walks of four of the five figures. From behind those that blocked her view she could see the familiar wisps of longish hair, the flick of a black coat. "No, no, no. Too much of a good thing, that's all it is. You're just stuck in a daydream. You'll wake up right about now," she growled and pinched her arm hard. Pain flowered in her forearm and she winced, but Jinny still stood there behind the figures that were gaining speed. Heedless of those she pushed out of the way, she hurried to follow until she was just close enough to see them swing legs over the waiting bikes.<br/>
<br/>
           She watched dumbly as they departed. All she could really do was stare and feel insane, helpless, terribly excited - a hodge-podge of emotions at the prospect at everything suddenly, really existing. And yet there was disappointment at having no one to share it with or hide behind as she had so often done with the fandom. She’d never been good at taking the lead or being the center of attention. She was a lurker and was comfortable with that.</p><p>          But there was no denying what she was seeing. She couldn't pretend Marko's brightly-colored jacket didn't illuminate half the damn street. Her stomach tightened as Dwayne silently slid onto his ride, the action screaming the power he was capable of. She tried not to flush at what he looked like in person – she knew when someone was out of her league, real or fictional, and pushing her luck never went over well. She bit her lip hard as David glanced to the others. There was something about those eyes, that smirk that made her concede he was attractive, but there were moments when she'd rather punch that smirk right off of him. It was fear, fear of what went on in that head, what he was capable of, but she didn't dare admit that to herself. After all he was a fictional character, they all were! They couldn't really hurt her. At least they never could before.<br/>
<br/>
          Through it all, she tried to cling to some shred of leftover power from her God complex when she had been a writer controlling the ins and outs of her version of Santa Carla, but it was so long ago. It was also becoming more and more apparent by her lack of knowledge and growing feeling of helplessness that those powers sure as hell didn't extend to situations such as the one she was in. She felt a sharp stab of helplessness which was only amplified by the roaring of the bike motors as they prepared to leave. And then she saw Paul in the corner of her eye. Something about that smile, the way he was head banging. She wasn't sure what made her hold her breath more: the fact that he really did exist, was actually damn good looking, or that he, like all of them, were focused on the girl perched proudly behind David.<br/>
<br/>
          Jealousy flared. She should have expected that they would have some chick with them, but shouldn’t it have been Star? Would it be Star if it wasn’t the eighties? The girl on the back of David's bike had straighter hair and looked to be about eighteen. And despite the fact that Jinny had never laid eyes on her before, the other girl was familiar, very familiar. The dark hair and decent proportions were typical of most fictional heroines, and admittedly she was a little cardboard in comparison to the vampires, but...there was something about the school uniform and the liberated but quietly helpless feel the girl exuded in her dark eyes. A memory tugged at her like a three-year-old at his mother's skirt. There had been that story years back when she had been musing what each boy would go for and going through her own particularly dark time. She’d been tired of the romanticism, had wanted to infuse her fanfic with as much horror and blood as sex and give the vampires their due. There had always been the ever-insistent 'what if' factor that had prompted her to write one of her crueler stories. In it, the boys had been bored one night and found a student from a private school to harass, seducing her, initiating her carnally, showing her the promise of what life had to offer. Out of all her one-shots, that girl had been the one to escape alive without knowing what the boys were, but only because they liked the idea of keeping her as a pet for the long term, of seeing how much they could break her before feeding. It hadn’t been the greatest period of her life, so the darkness had felt justified. Now, though, seeing the implications and repurcussions…<br/>
<br/>
          "Oh my God," she whispered as she watched them go, her feet moving without her brain as she started to run. It couldn't be. It was impossible, but then again the whole thing was damn impossible. "No...that stupid, stupid series," she muttered, gritting her teeth as she took off at a sprint. Of all the versions of Santa Carla to get stuck in, it just had to be one from her own demented, mean, porny imagination.<br/>
<br/>
          By the time she got to the beach it was evident that she'd never match their speed on foot. Panting, she swallowed hard, and her throat and chest burned as pain fluttered up her side. Thankfully, their tires had left a trail down the beach that she could follow and there was little wind that night. It wasn't an easy task, rather like walking down the hallway after a bad dream with only random bonfires to light her way and faceless shadows watching her. It was slow going, but it gave her time to try and remember everything she had ever written about that character. Becky had been a typical good girl, a little meek but brazen enough to hold her own...at least for a while. She was intimidated by numbers, though, and sexually curious. That had been her undoing in the story.<br/>
<br/>
          Jinny's temples throbbed as she forced herself to think the situation through. Her feet sliding over the loose sand until she felt like she was yanking her legs along instead of walking. Could a slant on a universe take on a life of its own? What happened then? The girl had been coerced into granting favors, she remembered that. There had been a bit of empowerment on her side even though they were blatantly using her. And it had been open-ended with only the hint of what would eventually come. Jinny knew how she had intended for it to end; part of her fixation at the time with the crueler side of vampire life and sexual power trips disguised as some sort of personality study. Now, it seemed, those dark ideas that had been their own demented playground way back when were determined to come back to haunt her. It was very rarely that she felt much for one of her original characters in a series like that, but then again, she'd never seen one of her original characters suddenly become flesh and blood before.<br/>
<em><br/>
          Flesh and blood...shit.</em><em>This is all my fault, </em>she thought to herself, the very idea of what could happen once they reached their destination turning her stomach.<br/>
<br/>
          "Don't let me be too late," she whispered, picking up speed, though the sand was intent on doing its best to slow her pace.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. All I Really Want is Deliverance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny learns that fic writing has consequences and the boys learn that not all games end up fun.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>CW: Character death, though not a main/movie character</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     They drove up the beach towards the bluff, the boys laughing over the engines as their bikes caught up with David's. The wind chilled the air just enough to make Becky uncomfortable in her "improved" uniform with the shorter skirt, lower neckline, and all-around sexier cut. It was something she never would have dreamed of putting on until she had met this odd group.  How long had she been coming to them now? Weeks, months? Time blurred when they were around. she would keep coming because they asked it. She had made that promise what seemed like forever ago, that night when she had been an idiot schoolgirl trying to sell a few discount cards for a fundraiser and gotten caught loitering in front of Max’s Video.</p><p>     She smirked slightly at how much of an education she had received since then and tried to ignore that darker something that tugged inside, reminding her of how wrong it all was. It was better not to think on how quietly disturbed she was at all the things she had done simply because they had wanted her to. She surely wouldn't have let Paul and Dwayne into her parents' house when they were away all weekend at couples’ therapy to screw in every single room. She definitely wouldn't have given head on the carousel, wore the clothes she did, let them pick the game and agree to whatever they could come up with. There was stepping out of her boundaries and then there was...whatever she was doing. <em>It won’t last. I’ll go on to college and a boring life. This is enough to give me a smile and a shiver later on. It’s decadent, but it’s for me. I have a power now, being with them, that I never had before. </em>Deep down, though, she knew the truth, why she really allowed it.</p><p>     David was her favorite, of course, though he gave the orders lately without participating, choosing to remain distant and cold. Sometimes they all did, until she wondered what the hell she had done, and then suddenly they'd be back, showing her the time of her life, making her feel...she didn't know. Special, important.  Maybe dangerous. They certainly didn’t make her feel loved...not yet, but that hadn’t been what she was looking for. She wasn’t stupid. At least they never made promises they didn't keep, but love had absolutely nothing to do with the arrangement. She had known that from the beginning. That was why she continued to do every single thing he asked. <em>One day he’ll get it. Someday soon he’ll surely realize-</em></p><p>     Becky blinked as the group collectively slowed and she instinctively squeezed her legs against the bike and clenched her teeth as the vibrations thrummed into her clit. She knew better than to let herself be swept away by those sensations. The last time that had happened none of the boys had touched her for a week - their punishment for her lack of control. She didn't want to tell herself that it was a convenient way for them to have a bit of freedom after a particularly attentive time period.</p><p>     Her fingers clenched into the leather of David's coat until the metal beast he rode stopped completely. She dismounted easily, relieved that her legs weren't wobbling like they had the first time she’d ridden with them. There had only been sweet teasing after that incident, and Marko had even taken care to take a long time in rubbing the feeling back into her legs, as well as what lay between them. It was impossible to figure them out in a conventional way, which worried and enticed her. In the end it wasn't her job to figure them out. She only had to belong to them, which was easy enough, at least during the nighttime. Balancing it with her real life, well, she’d have to figure that out. Becky smiled slightly as she watched David pull a cigarette from behind an ear, captivated by the simple flick of his hands as he steadied it between his lips and lit up, his eyes narrowing as he exhaled into an oncoming breeze. No, she wouldn't kid herself. <em>I’m his, whether he admits it or not, whether the others have me or not. I’ll always be his. </em></p><p>    David's eyes flicked to her and she felt her cheeks heat. It was almost as if he could read her thoughts at times, his responses and timing were so uncanny. He leisurely glanced behind him to where the others dismounted with the usual casual bad-ass attitude, then looked out into the space beyond Hudson's Bluff. She waited with what she hoped was a calm facade for his instructions; she'd come to expect them when he got that thoughtful look on his face. Her stomach tightened at the anticipation of what was to come as her gaze followed his out onto the mist that curled over the water with the changing temperatures.</p><p>     "You had Marko last night?" he asked softly and she frowned. She hadn't expected direct interrogation. Usually his questions always involved what had happened, but after an evening's fun. They were more of a recap and testing the waters, or they were an invitation to some new experience.</p><p>     "I, well yeah, he came over," she murmured. Sometimes it was nice to be alone with Marko. He was more to the old Becky's speed and taste, and sometimes she needed that sweetness, that directness without the bullshit.</p><p>      "I never told you to fuck him, did I?” He watched her with no expression, lips tight around the cigarette in one corner. For some reason her stomach felt icy as she stared at his face. Those features that she had memorized the first night she had been with him were stony and far more removed than any other time she had seen him get irritated.</p><p>      "It's happened before-" She inhaled and took a step back as he turned quickly, his blue eyes absolutely lethal.</p><p>     "I told you that you always do what <em>I </em>say. You think I'm an idiot, that I won't find out? You were with Dwayne and Paul three nights this week...on your own."</p><p>     "But I thought you wanted...you always stay away from time to time. I thought-"</p><p>     "When <em>I </em>tell you to. I thought you were mine, Becky." The words were harsh but his face was detached. It didn't make sense, though his words got an instant reaction.</p><p><em>     No. No, no, no, what have I done? </em>"I am! David!" she stammered, taking a step closer as he turned and began to walk away. She looked over her shoulder where the others waited and froze. They stood not just like onlookers, but like the audience to the decapitations of old, vultures waiting for a carcass to drop and breathe its last. "What's going on!" she demanded, her voice claiming a fierce tone that it hadn't known in a long, long time. This wasn't just a turn of events, this was something else.</p><p>     "Becky wants to know what's going on," David snorted before turning, though he had moved so far away that all she could see was the end of his cigarette and the outline of his hair.</p><p>     "I dunno, what's going on, Paul?" Marko drawled, his eyes just a little too large, grin just a little too feral and amused.</p><p>     "Who wants to know?" Paul nearly cackled and she grit her teeth, reminding herself why she had never liked him, even if he was mind-blowing in bed.</p><p>     "Becky wants to know," Dwayne heckled, and she could feel her breath coming faster, her ire starting to raise. </p><p>     "It's finally time to tell Becky what's been going on," David whispered as he slowly walked back to her, as if she was the last thing on his mind. No, that wasn't right...there was something in his eyes that told her he was savoring the whole thing. "I don't like whores."</p><p>     She blinked and her mouth fell open. "What the hell are you talking about?!"</p><p>     "And I really don't like whores who talk back to me," he added, catching her chin easily in his palm. He didn't squeeze hard, but it was enough to make her be quiet and simply watch him. "You're not who I thought you were, Becky. There's a difference in obeying orders and making up your own, playing us against each other. You've turned into such a slut." He said it so calmly, without feeling. It was as if she was a fad that was disappearing.</p><p>    "But you said you didn't want me to be a good girl," she whispered as he released her, eyes narrowing in accusation. "You said when you wanted, where you wanted, how you wanted!"</p><p>    "How <em>/I/ </em>wanted. I'm the leader and you've been going behind my back.  I don't play like that. Friends come before some girl."</p><p>    "Some girl? <em>Some</em>girl?!" she  shouted, her head shaking in disbelief as she backed away. She was about to start screaming at him, about to completely freak out at the thought of losing him, of losing her David-</p><p>And then she heard the laughter: quiet, dark, and very, very knowing. And she saw the look in his eyes, really saw the look of an artist admiring his work. She stopped breathing, the realization hitting her as if she had walked face-first into a post.</p><p>    "You wanted this all along," she whispered, eyes wide. When she realized the all the things she had done: the cash she had taken from her parents' safe, all the times she had snuck out of school to prepare for the nighttime revels, times she had gone to get weed for them, or do countless other things because they just asked her to. When she thought of the whispers she had heard in the halls about her, but hadn't cared because David was pleased..."You-" Her voice broke off as she struggled to keep her hand over her mouth to muffle the crying. <em>How am I supposed to go back to normal after this? What do they even want from me? I thought they noticed me, wanted me. Were they just bored? </em>She felt sick, dizzy, shattered from the inside out.</p><p>    "What'd I tell you, boys? It's beautiful when they figure it out," David called. "So hopeless, so broken." She did cry then, the old Becky, the real Becky clinging to thin air, to any hope or hint of a hope to get to the surface again. </p><p>    "So what now?" Dwayne asked and she forced herself to look at them again. Shame flooded her as well an odd feeling of alienation as they looked upon her with predator eyes, though there was something weirdly somber in the dark-haired boy's face. Even Paul, though he looked ready for...whatever sick thing they had planned, seemed lackluster in comparison to his usual bubbly self. She swallowed hard as she took a step away from all of them, which meant there was only closer to the edge of the bluff to go.</p><p>    Becky looked down into the swirling void, then up into David's face. His smug expression made her wish she had never looked upon him to begin with. <em>I can’t. There’s nothing left but him. </em>She shook her head. She felt so lost, so furious at herself, but strangely not frightened. Slowly she raised her chin, felt her lip tremble, and took a long, deep breath.</p><p>    "You bastard," she whispered before she stepped off the edge.</p><p>“Shit.” David tried hard not to show his surprise as Becky's fingers faded into the mist, her silence making the tableau creepier as she disappeared from view. He hadn't expected that. She was supposed to beg for mercy, to string it out and be entertaining till the very end. </p><p>     "Dude!" Paul gasped, rushing to the edge with the others. "What the fuck? Is she insane!" he managed, on his knees at the very edge so he could peer over into the fog.</p><p>     "Just hopeless. Broken," Marko murmured and shook his head. "A shame, too. I mean, yeah she would have ended up dead, but...I don't know. It's why I never keep 'em alive after a screw," he sighed, knowing deep down that it was more than that. There had been too much time. They had all grown their odd attachments to this one, it had gotten just a little too comfortable. Despite the games, they had grown to look forward to seeing her each night, or at least planning what to do with her. That was why she had to go, but she wasn't supposed to take herself out. That was never the way it happened. And the sad thing was, she didn't even know who or what they were.</p><p>     "This wasn't part of the plan, David. You wasted a hell of a meal," Dwayne snapped. David nodded slowly. The others were things had gone on too long, too far. </p><p>     He was furious at himself for delaying the inevitable. No girl in Santa Carla was meant to be a keeper for them. They were fun and food and that was that. Attachment never happened. This is why you can’t let yourself get too bored. You get sloppy. "But it happened. There's no taking it back," he muttered as he flicked his cigarette after the fallen body. "The tide should carry her away. No one will be suspicious of a teen suicide even if someone finds her." His voice was flat, but he had to keep things under control. It had been a bad call, but so what? They'd recover and be better than ever. Trying to share her had probably been a mistake. It had caused too much tension between all of them. By putting her as a common goal it had distracted every member from the pack. Never again.  They could have their own little pets, find their own diversions, tackle a group of needy women together, but no more of this shit. No chick could deal with what it means to be one of us. Star had turned traitor, most of the other girls on the boardwalk just wanted to sleep with them, and Becky was way too hung up on using his friends to get to him. At least he didn't have to worry about any of them getting hung up on someone. It would be a cold day in hell when any of them deigned to have a girl or guy cut in on their fun. Pack was pack, the end. Nodding his head in resolution, David headed towards the cave.</p><p>     And reeled as some crazy bitch came out of nowhere and decked him full-on in the face.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Little Know-It-All</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny meets the boys and gets herself into even bigger problems when they discover just what she is and what she writes.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>     Well, guess I’ll add suicide by vampire to my list of bad life choices today, </em>Jinny thought as her fist connected with David's jaw, but she couldn't bear to see character she had created fall away into nothing, to go so silently, so hopelessly without any redeeming last moments. It wasn’t fair. She hadn't wanted that. In her stories at least the girls went somewhat happy or they were oblivious when they were killed off, or shallow enough that she could make herself feel better by thinking they deserved it. Her portrayals of the boys actually cared somewhat to at least put up a kind front or have the victim to believe it was all a game. <em>Why the hell would they do this? How did it all get away from me?</em>She was damned if she was going to let them get away with it unscathed. And maybe, just maybe, in the back of her mind Jinny recognized that she always put a little bit of her own characteristics into some of those characters. To see the boys close up was like being back in high school and coming across <em>that </em>group, the one that was always so out of reach, but the group everyone longed to be recognized by. It was like being set up with <em>that</em>guy, the one that would never notice her on her own, but was willing to suffer through dinner with her because his friends bribed him into it. And that group, those type of guys had just inspired some small little part of herself to jump off a damn cliff. </p><p>     The Lost Boys had been too stunned by Becky's suicide to hear her come up behind them and she had been too angry to back down once in range. Her fist had flown on its own, though David only staggered because he had been caught by surprise. That fact probably pissed him off beyond all else. She used that brief moment of shock from her blow to push him to the ground and straddle his chest, using her knees to compress his ribs, her fist geared up to go again. </p><p>     She was too pissed to care that the someone grabbed her hand before it got near the bastard's head. "You fucking asshole," she snarled, bucking against the strong arms that yanked her back, pleased when she kicked out and caught David again on the jaw. "You bitch, you fucking bitch!!" she shrieked, jerking hard towards him, though it only hurt under her arms where the others dug in their grip.</p><p>     "Looks like we've got some plans for tonight after all," David grunted and her eyes narrowed in quiet fury as he looked up at her. Jinny silently stared into that blue ice, not sure what she had expected or what she was even looking for. <em>What did you expect, moron? For him to recognize you and beg for forgiveness? </em>Nevertheless, his sneer of contempt and superior glint in his eyes was not exactly what she had had in mind. In the back of her mind logic and reality were subtly reminding her that fictional or not, David was a vampire and she had just insured her demise. On a certain level she was actually too furious to care.</p><p>     He stayed calm, though, and a faint smile ghosted over his lips as his eyes trailed over her, assessing. "What's your name princess?" David asked as he got to his feet, hand rubbing his face more to rid it of any smudges than because she had actually hurt him. She shook her head, unable to form words to express everything that mounted up inside her. "Come on, you must have a reason for that outburst. Spill it."</p><p>     "You killed her. You dicks actually killed her." She realized a second after the words let her mouth that it was the wrong thing to say. The hands on her upper arms tightened and David's face grew lethally serious as he leaned in, eyes slowly taking up her field of vision.</p><p>     "She had problems. You don't know what you're talking about. It had nothing to do with us," he murmured, looking at her carefully as if gauging to see if she was worth keeping alive.  Her mind suddenly felt heavy, cloudy, and she had the vague image of Becky but not Becky: a girl deeply scarred, inverted on herself. The girl had issues, but the abrupt picture in her head was definitely not the character she had written.</p><p>     Jinny stared at David before she felt her lip twitch. The laugh bubbled up and she just couldn't keep it to herself. "Oh my God! You just tried to like mind-trick me, didn't you?" she gasped and fell back against her captors laughing hard. </p><p>    "She's fucking crazy, man. You want us to just toss her?" Paul asked, and even the fact that he was one of the ones holding her wasn't enough to make her stop laughing. The others around her were uneasy with her mirth, with her calling David out and she really couldn't blame them.</p><p>    David's eyes narrowed still and he leaned in, holding her face hard under the chin.  "Wait." The sharp blue injected itself right into her mind and Jinny felt the sudden chill of something else, something so intent on searching that it was like ice into her brain. She gasped, shivering at the intrusion, gritting her teeth, though she had no idea how she could mentally wrestle him out. He pulled away and when she could she found that his face was startled and definitely not pleased.</p><p>    "You know," he whispered as he slowly gained his voice. "How the fuck do you know?" At that close range his face was absolutely fascinating. She had lost her lust for David ages ago, but the lines around his mouth when he grew angry, the way he carried himself was absolutely enthralling for a writer to observe.</p><p>    "I'm just that kind of girl," Jinny snorted, chin tilted up in suicidal defiance. His hand tightened on her throat and she winced. Yep, the whole thing definitely wasn't her imagination.</p><p>    "Tell me," he said firmly, once again leaning in to look her in the eyes. She promptly shut hers and tried to turn her face away.</p><p>     "What do you mean she knows?" Dwayne asked from her opposite side and there was something about just that simple sentence that made her perk to attention. Maybe it was because he rarely talked, but was something in his voice that was like a gentle prodding and a pinprick all at once.</p><p>     "I mean she fucking knows," David replied and the somber quality of the meeting deepened.</p><p>     "Oh for God's sake, will you cut the dramatics?" she sighed, staring pointedly at the ground. "Yeah, you're vampires. You sleep in a damn cave and run around like you're hot stuff," she added, beyond the point of caring if she was doing herself in. "And apparently even though time moves forward in Santa Carla, fashion definitely hasn't," she couldn't resist adding, raising a brow at the coat that had seen better days, the lackluster of the hairstyle of the supposed bad ass in front of her. "You realize the eighties haven’t come back <em>that </em>much, right? God, do <em>any</em>of you besides Dwayne have decent hair," she sighed, shaking her head. "It's a shame, really."</p><p>    "Definitely nuts," Marko muttered, though they all blanched when she said one of their names. In her peripheral vision she caught one of Marko's hands moving self-consciously through his blond locks.</p><p>    "We fucking own this town, girl, and you are in some deep shit," Paul growled and Jinny winced at the sharpness of the nails digging into her skin. She should have been terrified. They were the real deal and possessed all of the killing abilities that the movie had boasted. They also obviously had some of the qualities of her writing, which pissed her off beyond belief. How the hell could they have anything to do with what she had written and <em>not</em>know what was going on? </p><p>     She raised her foot and made to stomp on Paul's, but he was too fast for her reflexes. Even going limp didn't seem to make much of a difference.</p><p>    "Old fling of yours maybe?" Marko suggested to Paul who smirked in return.</p><p>     "Dude, even I'm not that desperate." There was something about that look on his face, that mix of amusement and slight, haughty derisiveness that stung her, pushed her even further. She twisted against him and drove her elbow right into his stomach. Paul winced and his grip loosened, but Dwayne was right there. His arms tightened around her and he spun her so she was face to face with him.</p><p>      "I don't think so, girl. You're not going anywhere," he growled. She shuddered at how intense his dark eyes were, not used to being the focus of <em>any</em>dude, never mind one that looked like that. True, he was trying to kill her, but she still had to fight a shiver at the pure power and demented sexual energy he gave off. And yet...</p><p>      Her knee shot up and hit him right in the groin. She smirked as he howled and bent over, releasing his grip. But she wasn't about to run, oh no. In a rage she turned to get another swing in, but David wasn't in front of her.</p><p>      Jinny screeched as hands grabbed the front of her shirt, tugged her around, and lifted her up off the ground. Even though he wasn't touching her throat it constricted on its own at the sight in front of her until she couldn't even imagine screaming. He stood there calmly, but changed: fiery eyes bore fire into her, that perpetual scowl that accompanied his vampire self was more imposing now that she was inches away from it. "Tell me how you know." When he spoke his fangs were obvious. They were real. Not just special effects on screen for a few moments, but real weaponry that could rip into her without any sympathy at all.</p><p><em>     Shit, shit, shit. </em>She was shaking and didn't know how she got her hand into her jacket, but the pages from her suitcase tumbled out onto the ground. It had been stupid, but she had taken them with her just so that some poor maid wouldn't discover her writing and she'd suddenly become known as the sick freak of Santa Carla's Motel 6. </p><p>     David glanced at the mess but made no move to let her go. It was Marko that picked them up and flipped through them. His reaction was immediate as he quickly read, either skimming or because speed-reading was some weird vampire survival skill. </p><p>     "David. I...holy shit," he managed. </p><p>      "Lemme see," Paul cut in, leaning over Marko's shoulder with a frown. "What the hell?"</p><p>      "What is it?" David asked, his fire gaze still holding Jinny's, watching her face squirm in discomfort and fear, though the latter was not nearly as much as he would have hoped for. The element of surprise was there yet not there, as if she was <em>used </em>to seeing him with that face</p><p>      "It's about...just read this, she-" Marko replied and thrust the stack at the leader.  David easily traded loads with the youngest, though Jinny was irritated to learn that Marko's grip was just as strong as David's. She watched silently as he read it over and while his face tried to remain passive there was no denying the surprise in his eyes.</p><p>       "This is about us and Becky, like everything we've..." his eyes shot up, blue again. "How. When did you spy on us?"</p><p>       She shook her head. "I didn't spy.</p><p>       "She couldn't have, David, we had the video store warded that night," Marko pointed out. All their eyes were on her now, a fact that she would have found exciting had she not been scared out of her mind and fueled by anger.</p><p>       <em>You can do this. You’re good at plotting on your feet to make things work. </em>"Where I come from you're movie characters," she murmured. She expected laughter and derisive comments about her sanity. Instead, there was only quiet. "There are some of us who write stories. That's one of mine," she continued and shrugged as much as she could with her body dangling inches above the ground. The precariousness of her situation continued to unfold before her. She had to keep her mouth moving if she was going to get out with her blood in her body. "I'm the author of that story. I decided to show up to check in on you, given the situation and all. You have a problem with that?" she growled, forcing an easy smirk.</p><p>       "Author? What the hell, dude?" Dwayne muttered, or was attempted to mutter. Hearing him with a voice a few octaves higher added to the adrenaline high.</p><p>        "That can't be. If that were the case, then why hasn't anyone else dropped in? What about the movie writers?" David asked, stepping back into her personal space, his eyes intent on watching every detail of her face. "We can't be characters." It was like watching a religious conflict in a self-assured monk's face.</p><p>        "You are.  You're in a movie from the eighties where I come from, and I guess you’ve never felt the need to update since then," she repeated. David scowled and looked at her closely. She hissed as that sharp feeling sunk back into her mind, shuddered at the mental violation as he pushed his will into her. When he had backed out she was nearly limp in Marko's grip, disgusted and irate at such treatment. “Watch it with that!”</p><p>        "She's telling the truth," he confirmed. The others shook their heads, expressions terribly weirded-out. "But that doesn't explain the rest," he added.</p><p>        Her mouth moved before her brain. "Most just write for fun, but some of us have hidden talents and have learned how to manipulate universes with our words. I know things others don't. I know how to check in on my characters. They never expect it, either, which is a shame. I hate having to punish them for doing things I didn't want, and you’ve pissed me off big time with what you did to Becky," she added, her smirk returning as she was lowered to the ground. David glanced to the papers he held and back up to her. </p><p>        "You write us fucking? Is that some sort of artistic comment or are you just that hard up?" he asked, smirking at the red that burst into her cheeks. "I didn't know I had that kind of fan club," he added, growing easier with the new balance of power that came from her quiet humiliation.</p><p>        "Dude, what is it with you? How come you're the one that has the chicks throwing themselves at you?" Paul mused and David glanced over at the others, his grin returning.</p><p>         “Just my sparkling personality and leader privilege,” he chuckled.</p><p>         "Sure isn't the hair," Jinny muttered under her breath. Her mouth snapped shut when David's attention returned to her, irritation evident on his face.</p><p>          "Like I really want some kind of sex-starved stalker," he said, looking hard in her face for any kind of reaction he could use against her before he turned thoughtful.  "You boys can have her. That's probably what she really wants. Let her take Becky’s place for the night. Might teach her to be more careful," he sneered and moved to push her backwards into the waiting vampires. Her hands shot out to grab hold of his wrists. David growled and started to push back but she shook her head.</p><p>          "I don't think so. You messed with my creation, buddy, and I don't like that one bit." His eyebrows rose in surprise at her defiance.</p><p>          "Oh really? And what are you inclined to do? Give up? Leave us to our own devices? We may have come from a movie in your world, but from the sound of it we're not your characters."</p><p>          She knew she had to keep talking no matter what. Keep talking and make it sound believable. "No, you're not," she agreed. "But did you ever stop and think that this version of Santa Carla is mine? I saw the coffee place I came up with. That was my character that just killed herself. The personality quirks that I put into motion sure seem on target," she added slyly and quietly relished their queasy looks. "Either that or you're all bigger jerks than people give you credit for."</p><p>          David simply stared as it all sunk in.  </p><p>          "What are you trying to say?"  Dwayne snarled from behind her, more irate and talkative than she had ever heard him. If that was what it took to get the character that was hardest for her to write talking she would have socked him in the balls ages ago. </p><p>          She turned, a cocky smile on her face, though inside she was barely holding herself together. "Don't you get it? This whole place is my version of your universe, boys. And did you ever stop and think that if I get pissed off certain liberties get taken away?"</p><p>          "You're bluffing," Marko retorted. "You have to be. We're not going to disappear at your whim. If this is all true then you must write off and on and leave us to fill in the blanks."</p><p>          "A creation made doesn't fade away if neglected. It grows like a garden, weeds take over. But if I set other things in motion, trim those weeds back, then what will you do?" she breezed, dropping David's hands to slowly step away to get some space between her and them. "What would happen if I took away all your play toys, all those easy feeds, all those fun girls that do it for you?" They stared and she laughed. "Yeah, I know about those. I came up with most of them. All of that great sex you've been enjoying, all of those great kills, those fun times? Those are because of me," she added, enjoying the ill looks. "So what if I took all of those away and then just stopped writing?"</p><p>            "You wouldn't," Paul gasped, glancing to the others for moral support.</p><p>            "It wouldn't work, anyway. It doesn't work like that," David assured them.</p><p>            "Oh? Glad you know how it works even if you didn't know about me or any of the rest of it," she pointed out, and nearly bust a gut at the deflated look on his face, though he tried to cover it.</p><p>            "I say we kill her," Dwayne suggested, his expression telling that he wouldn't forgive her for the assault on his manhood any time soon. "Then she can't hurt us."</p><p>            "You think that's a good idea? You really want to know what would happen if you take me out of the picture?"</p><p>            They all paused then and she shut up to let their imaginations do the dirty work for her. "I think that's what I'm going to have to do to really show you what I'm capable of.  I may just go write a little, and then put it all away. Toss all the files and flash drives out the window." She quickly began walking backwards, her eyes locked on them.</p><p>            "It won't work!" David called after her and the others slowly began to stalk forward.</p><p>            "Oh won't it? I guess you'll have to see. You won't know when it's coming, or when it stops. You'll just wake up one day and all those fun times will be over, dead boy," she warned and to her surprise and delight David only had to give the others a look and they stopped. They were furious, but there was something shaken in their eyes, something they didn't want to admit. "You didn't expect Becky to jump, after all."</p><p>            "That wasn't you. You were pissed about that!" David countered and she shrugged, pushing back her earlier ire, all the while making sure to keep them in her field of vision.</p><p>            "It's one thing to write it and another to see it up close. You'll never know," she added, her eyes daring them to follow. "Who knows, I may take out one of you next." </p><p>            "You can't-" Paul started but quickly shut his mouth. "Can she?" he asked in a loud whisper.</p><p>            "Guess you'll have to wait and see and hope to God you don't tick me off." Very slowly, very carefully she began to walk. "Don't look me up if you're around the east coast. It's been fun boys, but it's going to be even more fun. Sadly, not for you."</p><p>*****************</p><p> </p><p>            They watched her go and Marko turned to regard their leader in disbelief. "You're going to let her walk away like that?"</p><p>            "No. We've all got her scent and the feel of her mind. We know she lives across the country. We'll get her. She'll come crawling back. She wouldn't write us in scenes like that and then ignore us forever," he reasoned, twisting a fist against his other palm. It was too risky to give immediate chase without thinking things through. <em>I can’t believe I’m missing Max at a time like this, but he’d have known what to do. He was way more into esoteric shit than us. </em></p><p>            "She's pretty pissed, bro. And our futures aren't exactly something to play Russian roulette with," Paul pointed out as he walked towards the cave. "She knows what we are, where we live...she can do stuff."</p><p>            "She's bluffing. She has to be," Dwayne muttered, lighting a cigarette as if that would reassure him.</p><p>            "We'll find out. Give her time to get a head start, then follow her, get to her before she hits pen to paper. This is far from over," David insisted.</p><p>            "But can we get to her? Not exactly our turf," Paul sighed.</p><p>            "We'll find her and take care of it. Come on, boys! Don't let it worry you. We just got rid of one crazy broad, I’m not about to let another get in our way. We’ve finally got our lives back, after all. The times, they are a fucking changing," he added and headed towards the cave. Though the amount of unanswered questions in the back of his mind really, really bothered him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Welcome to the Jungle</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The boys are looking for Jinny and putting on the pressure. In an attempt to figure out what they're about, she sees a little too much. Or does she?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>smut ahoy!</p><p>Also, violence and minor character death, because vampires</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     When she thought about the amount of lies she had told that night two weeks back Jinny wanted to laugh - and then burst into tears. Those bluffs sounded so good at the time, yet she had never even thought about the repercussions. She’d assumed they’d take the bait and leave town to look for her, giving her a chance to settle in. The boys had been scarce for a few nights but had returned perplexed and pissed as hell. Presumably it was because they had followed her tip, gone looking for her, and then come up with squat. She knew how they felt. </p><p>     Once they had come back, though, they had been everywhere, keeping an eye out for her or some unusual event that she might have influenced to the point of being paranoid. She didn't dare go down to the Boardwalk much during the day or the night for fear someone would recognize her if David and the boys asked around. Besides, how far did those mind powers really extend? There were too many wild cards to risk being out and about too much. That alone had made her feel like a refugee, alienated from the only people she even knew in town.  Maybe they were the only people she knew in the screwed-up whole world at that point. She wasn't about to go poking around to see what other characters existed. The last thing she needed was to attract more attention. No, she had herself and that was that. </p><p>      It didn't help that a week after she had arrived her money ran out. It was infuriating. Somehow in the entire tourist town of Santa Carla, there were absolutely no jobs available away from the Boardwalk and she didn't have a death wish. It was like being stuck in one of her particularly sadistic stories with no hope of rescue. She began to ponder her inner motivations and vowed that if she ever got out of Santa Carla she'd stick to writing fluff. Maybe something with bunnies.</p><p>       The only upside to suddenly being homeless in a fantasy world was that she had no ties to tip anyone off and could keep her eyes on the vampires' activity as easily as they could hers. Although they had the huge advantage of being on home turf, they sure didn't make it difficult for her to find them. Oddly enough their actions almost dared her to come yell at them again, as if they were trying to taunt her out of hiding. Every time she turned around more missing persons posters seem to be on windows, and she swore she heard their bikes all night every night. It was an odd battle of wills and they were clearly winning, though they didn't know it. </p><p>      When she did catch a glimpse, it was hard to watch them go about their lives. There had been a certain part of her that had been elated to find herself in such a situation. It was a fanfic writer’s dream come true, right? The ultimate self-insert experience! She’d actually thought for a few days that leaving the "real" world and entering some weird alternate universe was the answer to all her problems. It worked so well in daydreams, but nothing that had happened came close to what her imagination usually came up with. At least not for her, anyway. In some ways it was her own fault. She had shot off her mouth, ignited their anger, and all the rest. But it was just as hard to realize that even though some of her stories seemed to have sprung to life in this odd garden, it sure as hell wasn't a universe of hers. The realization that she had no control over anything in town, especially what happened to her, quietly terrified her.</p><p>      And seeing them interact with each other, seeing how close they were was just as hard as getting from day to day. They really were a tight-knit, albeit demented, family. She hated to admit it, but seeing them ride through town together or hang out on the beach made her feel even worse. There was something about being on the outside with the knowledge she had, something about being forced to see how they could just look to each other and instantly react accordingly. There was something about the camaraderie they all shared that bound them together besides the blood. She could proclaim her "realness" all she wanted to, but they at least had others to rely on, they had those who were physically there for them in times of need. She was used to friends being with her only in terms of an Internet connection or faces she saw every day at work, friends who were there as long as she was useful, but to not even have that…to be so completely cut off...It had to be some sort of hell she was cast into.</p><p>     And so what if they were looking for her? It wasn’t like in some fantasy story. They wanted to find her, alright, but only because they wanted to rip out her intestines or worse. Why should they even think about her as anything other than a threat? In her anger and cockiness she had signed her own death sentence with a flourish. </p><p>     She was slowly adapting to the down and out life in Santa Carla, taking her cue from the runaways as to what places to avoid, what places were safe, and who would be a charity case if pressed. The old video store had apparently gone out of business years ago with the owner's sudden disappearance. For whatever reason no one had ever tried to buy the prime location, though she was also happy to see that it seemed to be her version of the store, with a second floor apartment attached. The imaginative part of her went insane with curiosity as to the details, but she knew the moment she asked it would draw attention right to her. She never slept there with the other squatters; it was far too big a chance to take. And every time she was tempted or curious, she reminded herself that she really couldn't afford to care. Not when she was tired, grimy, and famished. </p><p>     The streets away from the Boardwalk were crowded that evening, filled with leftover tourists all intent on getting back to motels, friends' houses, and campgrounds. She was too intent on finding a new place to bed down for the night to truly care about being seen. Truth be told, she had been within eye-range of the boys before and they had never spotted her. Though she doubted they'd instantly make a connection now. She was traveling with what she could fit in her backpack and what was on her back and those clothes had seen better days, just like the rest of her. She should have been pleased that she was so indistinguishable but she would have given up her cover immediately if offered a warm bed and a heavy meal before her last breath. Life sucked when she had to focus primarily on survival, both on obtaining nourishment and on keeping her throat from being ripped apart.</p><p>     She’d been eyeing an older lady with an oversized back when it happened. "And what do we have here?" a voice rumbled behind her and she stiffened, her heart slamming up into her throat. Slowly Jinny turned and watched wide-eyed as she took in the tuxedo jacket, the feathered blond hair, the charming grin and predatory eyes. She swallowed, glancing around in her peripheral vision for an open space between people to break through. But it slowly dawned on her that Paul was not only not addressing her, he didn't even see her. </p><p>     She nearly laughed at the absurdity of it, nearly tugged his sleeve and said "Hey Sherlock!" But then she followed his gaze to see who, exactly, he was looking at. The woman  was probably close to her age, but gorgeous, a real-life Barbie: long blonde hair, legs for miles, an ample chest, tiny waist, big blue eyes, and a mouth that presumably knew what it was doing.</p><p>      "I'm Brandi," the girl purred and Paul's grin nearly outshone every light on the whole damn strip.</p><p><em>     Why are you surprised? You wrote him that way. You thought it was funny. </em>A weird kind of jealousy flooded her heart as well as an overwhelming desire to knock the idiot out of the way and speak up. She had pegged him for liking more of a challenge than someone like that, but he was male. She bit her lip till it nearly bled and her stomach churned as she ducked out of the way, watching as Paul chatted Brandi up. The woman obviously had no clue what she was in for. But then again, neither did Jinny.  Not really.</p><p>     "You want some company for the evening, girl?" Paul drawled, standing far too close to that idiot. Jinny clenched her teeth as she watched the courtship from the corner of her eye, pretended to be fishing for something in her pocket, though they had been empty for a long time. </p><p>      "If you're offering, sure," Brandi cooed and Jinny fought the urge to gag. </p><p>     "Only thing is, I'm hanging with my friend this evening, and I wouldn't want to leave him all alone," Paul added, nodding to the figure of Dwayne who was just stepping into view. This time she did snort, didn't even care if he heard.</p><p>       Brandi smirked as she let her large eyes roam over Dwayne's body, and the misplaced writer's fingers dug into her palms until the nails cut the skin. "I don't have a problem with that at all, if he doesn't." she replied.</p><p>       "Baby, I'd love to spend an evening in your company," Dwayne purred and as she watched them walk off with the blonde between them, she shook in silent fury.</p><p>       It was all too much! There she was: short, dirty, and nothing, watching two of the sexiest things on two legs walk off with a tall, brain-dead goddess. She should be thanking the universe it gave her an escape path, but she wanted nothing more than to give herself away because of it. As if it would make a difference! All they would do would be to laugh and kill her instantly. Or make her watch and then kill her.</p><p>       She didn't want to see it, but it was too much of a temptation to see them at work without her influence. They couldn't be playing her. She had worked too hard to stay out of sight! But the look in their eyes as she kept them in view reassured her...a little. <em>They're hunting!</em>she realized in horror as they continued to saunter off, Paul's hand straying over her ass playfully. It was sick, but Jinny wanted to see it for herself. She had to know how they could really be. </p><p>       They headed down towards the beach and she hurried to keep them in sight, to stay near and behind them as well as keep her anonymity. She was fascinated by the equal amounts of lust and hunger in their eyes. <em>Holy shit. If it's like anything I wrote I am so screwed. </em></p><p>       She cleared her mind and thought of nothing, but they seemed too intent on getting to a quiet, very out-of-the-way dune to pay her any interest. Against her better judgment she continued to follow, parking herself at a dune a few feet away, curling behind the embankment. She really didn't have to bother. The few people that were around were too involved in their own activities to pay attention and Paul and Dwayne sure as hell weren't focused on her. <em>Why am I so upset? They’re nothing to me. They’re not even real. They want to kill me. </em>All of those stories must have gone to her brain over the years, made her come to expect that kind of attention she had poured into her original characters or the attentions self-insert characters got from the boys in those stories. <em>Did you really think they’d take one look at you and take you as their eternal mate? Girl, you have got to get yourself together and find a job so you can get a therapist. </em></p><p>       When she peered up over the embankment Jinny was drawn to the scene in front of her. There was no way she could stop watching even if she wanted to. Jealousy mounted as they settled down, laughing and passing a joint for a while. They let Brandi stroke and suck them, as if that kind of display in public was just another night to them. Jinny’s eyes widened at the action. She had only seen a minimal amount of porn in her life and watching a woman attend to two well-endowed guys simultaneously was an education. And then they were on the blonde, stripping her with hands and teeth, alternating from borderline rough to something incredibly sensual, driving her into a delirium.</p><p>     Jinny’s hands curled into fists and she leaned forward, longing to spring forward and stomp on the blonde's rib cage before smacking the hell out of the other two. <em>Why do I care? Would it be this way if this was Marko or David? </em> She'd kill them. Stake them in their sleep. <em>Give them a holy water enema. </em>She shook her head and sucked at her lip, determined to calm down. <em>Don’t be stupid. They’re not yours. They obviously aren’t that into you. You’re no competition to…whatever the hell that is. </em>Jinny bit her lip till she nearly drew blood, hating that imaginative part of herself for being so stupid. That's what she got for putting people, even characters, up on some damn pedestal. <em>It’s always the same, you know that. Why should Santa Carla be any different? </em></p><p>     Jealousy mounted as Paul's head glided low on the chick's body. </p><p>     "God dammit," she snarled and slammed her fist into the sand, thankful that it didn't give any noise. Dwayne's mouth was busy on Brandi's oversized breasts, and she could just see the barest hint of fang. "Stop it...just...please, stop it," she pleaded softly, trying to close her eyes but wanting to see how it ended. She had never pictured them working together in this manner of their own free will. Well, maybe in her wet dreams, but not in terms of an actual scenario. Why would they share food, let alone a woman? It made her feel even more helpless, to know this was something she hadn't foreseen in her imagination. But there they were, giving it to the girl and clearly loving it. She fought the urge to touch herself, to give in to the perverse eroticism even when they had finished fucking her at both ends and began running mouths over that damned perfect body again.</p><p>     Except that they used teeth.</p><p>     Her stomach dropped out as they changed. Even though Jinny was still undetected her throat still tightened, her neck still broke out in a film of sweat. Brandi was so into her own pleasure that she had no idea, even when Dwayne bit into the artery at her thigh and Paul sunk his fangs into her breast. It was like a sick art movie with the blood sliding over her skin, their motions still getting her off even as she died, her spasms reflected in the fluttering light of the bonfire that lay close by. </p><p>     Jinny wanted to scream, wanted to vomit, and really, really wanted to touch herself. It was wrong, disgusting, and complete overload. She wasn't sure what was more disturbing: the fact that she had found it so intriguing, the fact that she was so jealous, or the fact that she was almost glad they had killed the bitch. <em>Why did I never think of anything like this? It’s almost brilliant.</em>She was still shaking, the back of her neck drenched in sweat even as they dumped the body into the fire and lit up.</p><p>     "Dude, that writer bitch has to be behind this," Paul sighed after a while, still panting but obviously unsatisfied. "I barely enjoyed that."</p><p>
  <em>      What the actual hell? If that’s not enjoying than what does having fun even look like?!</em>
</p><p>       "No shit. It was way too easy. It's all too easy lately," Dwayne agreed as he inhaled deeply. "Any leads?" Jinny shuddered. She had wanted to hear them talk about her, but this kind of discussion was never what she had wanted to overhear. She leaned forward, struggling to pay attention through the fog in her mind and the stupid need between her legs. </p><p>       "Nada. If she skipped town she sure didn't go east. Well, wherever the fuck she's from. And there's no clues here," Paul grumbled, shrugging. "No jobs available, no one from the mystery spot or other tourist traps have seen anything. I made sure to put out there that they need to watch who they’re hiring,” he added and Jinny fought the urge to run over and slam his face into the sand, though his next words stopped her cold. “Shame, too. She was kinda cute."</p><p>       <em>Where the hell did that come from? </em>she wondered, shaking her head in dismay as something in her stomach fluttered. Her cheeks flamed at that comment but her eyes narrowed as Dwayne rolled his. </p><p>       "You’ve got to be kidding me. She's deranged," he said lazily, leaning back on his elbows, head craned to the sky.</p><p>        "The best ones are! I’m not saying put in an effort, but that kind of emotion, you get the best feeds from chicks who get that freaked out and angry! Come on, you still can't be hurting, especially after a performance like that," Paul snickered, motioning towards the burning body. </p><p>        "That didn't take much effort. I swear I haven't really gotten off since she came into town," the dark-haired boy growled. </p><p>        "What, you think she did some damage to your goods?"</p><p>         Dwayne rolled his eyes. "Not hardly. Though I'm not going to forget that little stunt, either. When I find her..."</p><p>        "Think of it as a challenge," Paul offered, his grin downright evil. "She seemed like she wasn’t sure how to take you. You could have fun with that. Besides, she’d be a way better challenge than the regular sluts and co-eds. Deep down you know she has to want it. We all read what she wrote. She has to have some kind of fire to come up with stuff like that."</p><p>         Dwayne paused and smiled thoughtfully. "I hadn't thought of that. Fine, give me a few hours, then I'd kill her, or make her wish I had," he added. His laughter was so warm, it was a massive contradiction to the cold words. Her stomach clenched. She had always pictured him as more of a sensualist, a hedonist, a secret romantic who would protect his lover, but deep down he was just like the others. Rough, selfish, dangerous.</p><p>         "Dude, no wonder you're my role model!" Paul laughed. She shuddered as the banter of what to do to her grew in detail, until she couldn’t take it anymore and had to leave. Quietly she backed away from the hill she was behind and took off towards the closest populated area. </p><p>         Paul breathed in the air deeply, making sure it only looked like he was taking a particularly long drag. "She's gone."</p><p>         Dwayne smirked as he made to stand. "Decent?"</p><p>         "Fucking Oscar-worthy. Sure to get best vampire in a porno/dramatic feature," his packmate assured him. "Though this is so damn elaborate," he admitted, shaking his head and tossing the joint into the dying fire. “Seriously, why can’t we just grab her now?”</p><p>         "Give it time. It'll be worth it, you know that," Dwayne reminded him.</p><p>         "Yeah. I still think this could backfire, though. It’s almost too smart."</p><p>         "We have to see what her powers are. This is bait, see if she actually can retaliate, then go from there. Then we let her see that we're not just things on a page, make her listen. D has a point, maybe she’ll be useful. And if she’s a threat this’ll bring things to a head and we end it."</p><p>         "It'll all just scare her," Paul insisted. "You couldn't smell the fear coming off of her?"</p><p>         "She's still confused," Dwayne corrected. "Adjusting. Lonely. She’s determined to do it the hard way. Give it time. We'll find her and deal with her then. If you'd gone to grab her now she would've had a seizure or tried to slit your throat or something. It’ll be safer to guage what she’s capable of and wear her down."</p><p>        "If you say so," Paul sighed, reaching for his clothes. "Come on, we've gotta get back. You've got a spot on you," he added, nodding to the blood-drenched front of Dwayne's jacket as the other vampire tugged on his clothes. Dwayne smirked and shrugged.</p><p>        "Spot nothing, that's a souvenir. Come on, let's go."</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Play the Game</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny struggles to survive, and finds a unique way of tipping the scales back in her favor. Who needs writer powers when some well-placed rumors will do?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     It was ironic. Jinny was finally getting to nose around the universe she loved so much, but she had a constant fear of the Boardwalk. But there it was, one of many things that was totally ruined for her. The only time she dared to nose around town was during the day, and she didn't dare sleep at night just in case the boys got smart. She had learned to adjust her body clock quickly to recognize the time between six am and one pm as her own personal nighttime. She was in a foul mood lately, and not just because of living conditions or loneliness, or all of the usual reasons. She didn't want to admit to it, but she was slowly becoming used to all of those things, a fact that chilled her. </p><p>     She kept an eye out, even if she didn't really need to while the sun was up, idly watching the comings and goings of the kids, punks, surfers, and whomever else wasn't hung over. During the day things seemed a little sleepier, the flow of people like reptiles lazily moving in the hot sun. It was at night when things really kicked into gear. </p><p>     Jinny walked along, unable to pull her gaze from the video store with the closed sign perpetually taped up on the window. She could always admit defeat and shack up with the other runaways, but she could also run around the street naked, or dress up like a nun and get shot out of a cannon. None of those choices appealed to her and she moved on. She frowned in distaste as she glanced down at the dirty rubber of her sneakers, sighed at the unraveling laces, the bits of shoe that were pulling apart from the sole. For a long time she’d done her damndest to save a change of clothes for interviews, but finally had started putting all her clothes in rotation so she’d have time to wash things and prevent them from getting too ragged too fast. All of her clothes were becoming a little worse for wear, just like the rest of her. The upside was that she could walk where she pleased and no one really looked her way. Still, she had the uncontrollable urge to grab a passerby and proclaim that this really wasn't her, she never used to look such a mess. Well, that was probably a matter of opinion, but still.</p><p>     She winced as a random body knocked against her. Weeks ago her temper would have flared and she would have pounced on the idiot, but now she didn't have the energy to flip off the blond in the halter top and microscopic shorts as she flit past.  Her eyes narrowed at the idiot's well-toned back and for a moment she wished she had a sharp object that she could throw. It was just like everything else; if she couldn't write it, it wasn't going to happen. When it was just down to her actual ability there was no hope for revenge, forgiveness, compromise, or anything else. She was helpless. Especially when, like every other fandom, this one seemed to be stocked to the gills with younger, better, more gorgeous competition.</p><p>     Bile rose up to her mouth as the scenes she had witnessed between Brandi, Paul, and Dwayne recalled in her memory and she had to pause to take a long, slow breath. She didn't know why it pissed her off so badly, why it hurt so much. It was sick and it didn't make sense in the end. She wanted to stay alive, but she wanted them to notice her. She wanted to torture them, but she wanted this to end. She wanted to go home, yet it seemed to be the last thing on her mind. But that was where she belonged, obviously. Santa Carla just didn't seem to agree with her.</p><p>     She wanted…<em>No. No, you’re not going there, </em>she warned herself. <em>You’re being stupid. You don’t want them. You know better. You know what would happen.</em><em> Stop being an idiot and start focusing on staying alive. No one's coming to rescue you, so you'd better do something to get yourself out of this.</em></p><p>     Her attitude was a far cry from how optimistic, despite how confused, she had been when she’d first arrived. Then she had attributed it as a dream, a fluke, some sort of breakdown. And then she had thought if she had played things out enough incidents would come to a head, the story would finish, and she'd get back. No such luck. In fits of inspiration she had even taken to writing. She scrawled on napkins, paper bags, a few notebooks she swiped from the odd store here and there. She tried anything to try and write herself out of Santa Carla, but the only thing that proved was that she no longer had control. It was a kick to her God complex as well as her core nature. She was slipping and she knew it, slowly turning into something that she had tried to prevent for a long time. She was slowly becoming someone that just gave into what she wanted to do, someone wounded that was far more primal than the decent soul she usually was.</p><p>     And <em>they </em>had helped do this to her, but she couldn't even actually blame them. It was a weird situation and not one covered in the survival books. She wasn't even sure what she hoped to gain from it, but all she knew was that she wanted out, or things to at least change.     </p><p>     "So where were you last night? I thought we were going to go to Kevin's party!" Jinny turned her head at the idle chatter and caught about five college girls in a group, each fairly good-looking and all intent on gossip. She slowed to keep up with their stride, keeping just behind them, head down and ears open. In some ways it was just nice to hear others talking when it didn't involve obscenities being thrown her way.</p><p>     "Sorry, I was out with the most gorgeous guy!" a breathtaking redhead bubbled and Jinny's eyebrow raised in silent interest.</p><p>     "Oh yeah? Who?" a delicate brunette asked, tilting her chin up as if denying this were even possible. Her features were sharp, her interest sharper.</p><p><em>     It’s all the same. Always. I don’t even have to guess. </em>She had thought - well hoped - that they had had better taste and that their games were just a way to get prey, and maybe they were. Maybe they really had to feed that much, but they actually seemed to really go for the biggest morons they could find, as long as they were built right.</p><p>    "You know that dark haired guy witht he leather coat with the jaguar that hangs around the Boardwalk?"</p><p>    "No way...the one that rides that motorcycle with those badass friends of his?" a well-endowed blonde in a designer dress gasped, leaning forward.</p><p>    Jinny forced herself to slow her pace though she wanted to break out into a run, wanted to hear her feet slam into the pavement. <em>I really hope they aren’t any of mine. Please tell me I never wrote people so one-dimensional. </em></p><p>   "The same," the redhead grinned, her pride putting a bounce in her step.</p><p>    "You should be careful," another one of them commented. "He just looks like bad news, Tabitha."</p><p>    "Nah, he's sweet, so charming. I can handle him," the redhead replied, waving her hand dismissively. The unnoticed girl behind rolled her eyes. </p><p>    "Think he could get me in with one of his friends?" brunette asked, tongue wetting her lip. "I just love watching that blond in the coat. The things he could probably teach a girl!"           </p><p>    "God, Janice, calm down!" Tabitha laughed. "I'll see what I can do."</p><p>    "The little one is just so sweet...probably wouldn't know what to do with a girl if he had her, though," the blonde sighed wistfully.</p><p>    "So teach him!" Janice snorted. "If you want him riding anything besides his bike, take some initiative! And then cut his hair." Jinny shook her head in amazement. These girls were almost vampires in their own right. They saved their energy by meandering during the day and coming into their full glory at night to suck the life forces out of every good-looking cock that came along.</p><p>   "Uh-huh. Sign me up for the one in the tux jacket any day," another one laughed and Jinny felt a swell of ire flood her stomach at the continuing conversation.</p><p>    "God, you are so clueless," she muttered, then blinked as the knot of airheads stopped dead in their tracks, forcing her to nearly fall over herself to stop.</p><p>    "Who the hell are you?" Janice asked, adopting the typical catty battle stance: one hand on the hip she stuck out, chin raised into the air defiantly.</p><p>    "Sorry, didn't mean to listen in. I just think it's funny, what you were saying," Jinny admitted dully, not really caring what came out of her mouth. She was used to just saying what she had to when she needed to escape a awkward situation at that point.           </p><p>   "And why should it be funny? Just because you have nothing better to do than shoot up or whatever all day," one of them snapped and the writer bristled.</p><p>
  <em>   Ouch. No wonder there are so many vampires in Santa Carla. The city needs them for population control. </em>
</p><p>   "Everyone has their own story. I got like this for a reason," she muttered, shoving past them. "But if I were you, I wouldn't get anywhere near that group," she added.</p><p>    "And why's that?" Tabitha asked, tentatively stopping her with a hand on her shoulder. Jinny turned and raised a brow, the other girl not endearing herself when she quickly pulled her hand away and rubbed it up one leg of her expensive jeans. </p><p>   "Look, sweetheart. I may look like shit but I see things. You really want the full story you should talk to someone who gets to watch things unnoticed," she snapped, quickly turning to go. It would be so easy to just tell this group what they really were, sell the Lost Boys out. <em>They wouldn’t believe you, anyway. And you couldn’t go that low. </em></p><p>   "And what things have you seen?" Janice asked, eyes going down to slits, her face clearly disbelieving.</p><p>   Jinny nearly cursed at having her bluff being called, but then again she was always a good liar. A dull evilness made her heart flutter as an idea took hold. <em>You wouldn’t go that low, but you can still make them hurt. </em></p><p>   "I say that because I've had the leader. Well, I mean I've had all of them, but it all started because I had a crush on him," she breezed, then shrugged and turned as if to go.</p><p>    "<em>WHAT</em>?!" came the collective gasp and she was hauled into the center of the group.</p><p>    "You’re lying! Why the hell would any of them go for you?"</p><p><em>    Think, Jin, Think! </em>"It was a long time ago," she said slowly, trying to kick her brain into high speed. "We went to the same school before he dropped out and convinced me to. I made some mistakes," she muttered, shrugging as if that could possibly explain her appearance and down and out status. Fortunately they were stereotypical enough to buy it. Or maybe they just really, really wanted horny details.</p><p>    "What was he like?"</p><p>   "How's he hung?"</p><p>    "Does he give back?"</p><p>    "How about the others?"</p><p>     "One at a time, geez! And I really shouldn't,” she added, pausing for emphasis. "But...well, it was a brief, intense thing, and a while ago..." she started.<em>This is a dangerous game. It’s going to bite you in the ass, you know this. You shouldn’t involve them. They’re kids, or at least younger than you. You’re being a judgmental bitch to women you don’t even know, just because you got yourself in over your head and you have weird jealousy issues. </em>Still, she couldn’t help herself. Maybe if the boys got it into their heads that it was her writing these things she could regain her upper hand. Maybe if she put just enough into motion the balance of power could tilt back into her favor. "He was...okay," she said, making a slight face. Janice's hopeful expression fell slowly.</p><p>    "Just...okay?" she repeated dumbly.</p><p>    "I mean, he looks so cool and he comes off as dangerous but...I mean it took me a while to get him there."</p><p>   "Really?" Tabby breathed as she leaned closer, momentarily forgetting her pristine status.</p><p>    "Keep in mind this was a ways back, I'm sure he's learned more in six months or so," she babbled, doing her damndest to hide her smirk at their sullen faces. "Oh yeah, I had to really work for it. And he isn't patient, either. Kept barking orders, wanted some weird shit. I mean he did his best to give back, but I just think he really doesn't know how to please a woman," she admitted. "And he didn't want to use protection. None of them do," she dropped as an afterthought.</p><p>    "My God..forget that then," Janice shuddered.</p><p>     "Besides, it’s hard to get close to any of them. They’re pretty codependent, even if they go after girls. They all want to be an audience for each other, and one thing leads to another, so be prepared to be passed around and put in a lot of work on your knees. I know it sounds like a kinky fantasy, but ugh, those were some rough nights.” She shrugged at the stares, aware that she couldn't lose them too fast. "But maybe the right girl can get them to drop the whole brotherhood voyeur sharing thing and keep their individual attention. Defnitely wasn't me, that's for sure." That seemed to placate them a bit, and the group shared cautious looks. </p><p>     "Weird," Tabitha snorted. "Um...you know anything about..."</p><p>     "Dwayne? Just that he pads himself. " She smirked as the poor girl nearly choked on her tongue.</p><p>     "W-what?"</p><p>      "The stuff in the front of his pants. Not all natural. Believe me, shocked the hell out of me when his pants came off. "But he comes on strong and is probably a nice guy. I wouldn't really know because he never had an interest in me after fun and games and I never saw him with the same girl after they-."</p><p>     The redhead's blue eyes narrowed dangerously. "You mean he's just in this to get laid and then....but he said..."</p><p>     "They always <em>say</em>things," Jinny tsked. "I've heard he doesn't last long, anyway. And I'm amazed he's coming onto someone so soon. I saw him Paul down on the beach a few weeks back with some blonde goddess, I dunno," she added, shrugging lamely. Those same blue eyes nearly cracked with icy fire as Tabitha shook her head dangerously.</p><p>     "Oh he is dead!" she growled and Jinny bit her lip, trying to keep the laughter at the irony in that statement in.</p><p>     "So what's up with the other ones, then?" was of course the next question.</p><p>     She bit her lip, gauging the look of the girls, finally determined them to be a little younger and more naïve they looked. "Markko just...well, he's going to want to watch you with everyone. And he's got some really specific tastes on what he wants to see, and that's all I'll say about that. The others defnitely like him playing voyeur. As for Paul, hope you like being tied up. And spanked. And bit. And being filmed. And calling him weird shit like your royal cockness," she added, biting the inside of her cheek as they looked more and more worried. The last popped out of her mouth, the spawn of days of nothing but negative feelings.</p><p>    "The hell? There’s kinky and there’s weird. I...never would have known!" Janice admitted, shaking her head. </p><p><em>     I cannot believe they’re falling for this. </em>"Well they keep to themelves a lot, so they're all pretty well-kept secrets," Jinny admitted, quite enjoying the horrified looks she was getting.  "They like to keep their partners under their thumb so they use their sex appeal. I know one girl they used to get to her parents’ money. And hey, that's fine, everyone has an agenda. I just wouldn't get involved with any of them if I were you." She pulled her shirt down to where her bag had chafed the base of her neck, leaving a rough scar alolng one side that she couldn't get rid of, no matter what she tried. "After all, I thought I was going to date a sweet, wild bad boy and then found myself collared in private and passed around. Wouldn't want you to end up in my shoes. It’s taken me forever to tie up loose ends and move on with my life" she added ominously. "There's a reason I'm on the streets. My family wouldn't put up with me after that, so now I've got to deal with things myself," she sighed, pausing only to glance over her shoulder as they quickly called another group of their friends over and began whispering feverishly. <em>There’s no reason to feel guilty. You warned them. </em></p><p>     "Not my problem," she muttered, though maybe she would stick around the Boardwalk until the sun went down, just for one night. Just to see the looks on their faces. Smirking, she ducked down a side street to find a decent place to get out of the sun.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Heard it Through the Grapevine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The boys find out just what kind of influence Jinny's been up to, though she manages to find a few surprises of her own.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>     There wasn't much time for fun lately, and what fun they had seemed empty in comparison to the days before that mystery chick had come charging into their lives. David hated living under the shadow of paranoia, but until they found her, they’d have to deal. <em>Something has to be up. </em>Things had been weird. First, they were almost too easy, even by their typical standards, but the past few nights it was like their favorite dishes in the buffet had suddenly stopped serving themselves. There were still plenty of Surf Nazis and criminals and God knew what else to feed from, but it was irritating, just the same. The other shoe was bound to drop sooner than later. Knowing his luck and her attitude she'd aim to drop it right on his head. He had a very bad feeling about the whole thing, but he wasn't about to show it, especially when all they could really do was stay aware. She'd been privy to what they were capable of and would continue to be so, both the good and the bad, though he’d admit that she’d mostly seen the latter. <em>Gonna have to fix that, otherwise we’ll never get anywhere. Can’t do it if we can’t find her, though.</em>There was no harm in letting her see both sides of the coin and then see what she'd do. <em>This hiding shit of hers isn’t working out for any of us. </em>What irritated him most was that he couldn't figure out if her claims were bluffs or if she was that good at psychological play. Either way, it didn't make for a fun evening. </p><p>     The vampire exhaled a stream of cigarette smoke and leaned back against the bike rack as he watched the populace stream by. Nothing. Not a sign. <em>How could we lose her so easily? </em>They'd been careless and overconfident. He'd thought for sure after she had seen that thing with Paul and Dwayne she'd do something drastic to show herself. It was only logical that she would try to wreak vengeance, but instead it was like she’d ceased to exist. Maybe she had left town. Maybe they had nothing to worry about. Still, he didn't know for sure and his imagination was starting to get to him.</p><p>     A leggy brunette came striding over to where he was watching the world go by and David sat up just a little straighter. He didn't have time for girls that obviously were just good at talking, but he wouldn't ignore her, either. She might have seen the girl he was looking for, or at the very least would provide a quick meal. Either way, he benefitted. He hadn't tried to put the moves on a chick since Becky - he was too busy with this new catastrophe. He didn't want to admit it, but he was reluctant to try that again. It was too much work for too little payoff, too much risk of exposure for a break in the monotony. He had no qualms about letting the others play as long as they were careful, but he was the leader. He had to keep some semblance of control.</p><p>     "You look lonely," the girl purred and he glanced up at her, his lips curling into a cocky smile. She was of age, but more confident of her abilities than her actual skill. There was something there deep in her eyes, a vicious need to prove herself no matter what. He could appreciate that, but it also meant she’d be high maintenance.</p><p><em>     Pathetic </em>was all he could think, though pathetic did have its possibilities. "I don't mind being by myself," he replied, curious to see if she'd blow him off or keep trying. He was used to both. Girls seemed to be equally drawn to him or repulsed by his attitude. What did he care when he had more power and a longer lifespan than whatever random person that tried to offer him a few mere moments of pleasure?</p><p>    He didn’t like the odd smile on her face. "Yeah, I've heard you like being with a lot of people. Or being with your friends, too."</p><p>   "We're close," he said simply. He wasn’t sure if she was leaning into an innuendo or some other implication.</p><p>   "Oh I know. <em>Believe </em>me, I've heard all about how close you are with your friends and the things you boys do.”</p><p>    David fought the urge to snap her neck then and there. He hated talked back to, especially by people who were clearly a few sandwiches short of a picnic. But maybe she’d heard something, knew something. "Oh yeah?" he asked, leaning in to where she was eyeing his bike.</p><p>    "Mm-hmm," she purred, and nodded to a few yards off to where a large group of twenty-something women stood. Normally he’d think easy pickings were too good to be true, but he really, really didn’t like the looks that were being thrown his way. “There seems to be a lot of talk about how much you and your friends like company, as long as it’s on your terms.”</p><p>    His alarm bells were going off, but he kept his cool. No one in the group wore the uniform that Becky had, there was no way to connect her to them other than the odd sighting or story, so that couldn’t be it. “I like to be in control, so?”</p><p>   “Uh-huh, just like you controlled your last girlfriend to drop out of school, fuck your friends, and do whatever weird shit you could think of before you ruined her life?”</p><p><em>    What the actual fuck? </em>He’d have laughed, but the hate waves that were being leveled at him from across the street were no joke, and if that many girls had the same idea, a whole means of feeding was about to dry up. In an instant he had the chick's arm in a death grip. "What the hell are you trying to pull? Is this your idea of a joke?!</p><p>    He expected her to apologize, to tell him she got it wrong, to do something. Not to glare at him derisively. "I'm just tired of you and your friends screwing over every female heart on the damn Boardwalk. You’re a bunch of male whores who can’t take us seriously, why not just admit it and leave us alone! It's going to be a hell of a lot harder for you from now on," she added, her eyes sparking with defiant fire. "We finally got the real story this afternoon and stories like that spread quicker than STDs," she growled, yanking out of his grip. David blinked, stunned.</p><p>    "Full story?"</p><p>    Her full lips gleamed with confidence and cheap gloss. "Yeah, from the girl at your school you screwed and tossed away."</p><p>     It took him a few minutes to count back to when he <em>had </em>been in school, frowned when that still didn't drag up a memory. "I have no fucking clue what you're talking about."</p><p>     She rolled her eyes and huffed, shifting her weight so that the fabric of the designer jeans she was sporting tightened over her pelvis ever-so-slightly. "Figures you don't even remember. That's what she said about your whole group: total amnesia when it comes to the second date, you just move on down the line once you get a girl to give it up to all of you at once. Between that and all the weird kinky shit-”</p><p>      David’s head began to throb. “What weird kinky shit?!”</p><p>      “You know, the sharing, the rough play, the lack of protection – she didn’t say so, but I bet one of you knocked her up and left her to rot, didn’t you? After you got her to steal from her parents, too and got her kicked out. Just so you could go to the next girl. Typical,” the girl sneered.</p><p>       “I have no idea what the hell – so we like a lot of girls, that doesn’t mean-” David only caught himself after the words were out of his mouth, and they were loud enough to be heard by the horde nearby if their angry buzzing before they all dispersed and stalked off was a cue. To make matters worse, a few were trotting right up to their male friends who were beginning to cast dark looks in his direction. <em>Shit, shit, shit. </em>For being pathetic, the brunette had gotten lucky at being smart: either she'd force him into some sort of admission or get him into a fight over it and probably tossed off the damn  Boardwalk. He would have been worried had he been human, but as it was it was hard enough to deal with the politics of the situation and still come away with image and food source intact. <em>I really, really don’t need this.</em></p><p>The brunette snickered. “Guess you have a problem facing the music, eh asshole?”</p><p>      "No, I have a problem with people spreading rumors about me," he said, trying to keep his voice steady and the vampire side down, his hand gripping the handle of his bike as hard as he dared. "How many people heard this story?"</p><p>     "Eh, it's all over the Boardwalk by now. How you all pass girls around and watch each other, the little one in the patchwork coat has an unhealthy obsession watching the rest of you, the dark-haired one stuffs and can't keep it up, how the other one is into kinky shit and comes too fast and likes to be called weird names. It’s all common knowledge."</p><p>     David grit his teeth, sure his fangs would poke right through his lip. "Describe the girl that told you this."</p><p>     "Are you really going to threaten me?" the girl asked, raising an eyebrow as a built dude in a letterman jacket headed their way.</p><p>     He bit back the reply, knowing that while the guy couldn’t take him, he didn't need to get into a fight when there was information on the line. He took a breath and made himself calm down. "I really need to know. This chick has it out for us. She's my sister-"</p><p>    "You screwed your own sister?" the girl shrieked and David became very aware of the stares aimed his way. He was going to have to slaughter something fast to combat the migraine.</p><p>    "No! She made that shit up! She was trying to stop us from bringing her back home. She's a runaway-"</p><p>    The girl frowned, licking her lip thoughtfully. "She did look kind of scruffy, but she said she'd dropped out of school about six months ago."</p><p>    David nodded and tried  to push down his initial irritation as he switched to something that he hoped appeared sincere. He carefully added a bit of influence into his voice. "She did. We had some problems at home and she couldn't deal. There was a falling out with our parents. She's a very angry person and I don’t blame her, but my friends and I have been trying to get her help. She has it out for us since a couple of them turned her down. I get her embarrassment, but they think of her as a little sister, nothing more. We just want her back and safe so we can get her help.  Where did you see her last?"</p><p>    "Around the Boardwalk, this afternoon," the girl replied automatically. "She's a little taller than me, probably a bit older. She has red hair that needs to be re-dyed, dingy clothes, living out of her bag, bad attitude-"</p><p>    "That's her," he encouraged, eyes lighting up in triumph. "Did she say anything about where she was staying, what she's up to now?"</p><p>    "No. She just disappeared."</p><p>    He frowned. "What do you mean disappeared?"</p><p>    She shrugged and her voice was as vague as what was between her ears. "She was listening in, interrupted, told us this stuff and just...walked off. I don't know where she went."  Her giant friend had reached them and stared from her to David suspiciously. “It isn’t what we thought, I guess. The girl has problems.”</p><p>    “You sure you wanna trust this jerk?” the guy asked. He clearly had a thing for the girl and clearly wasn’t going to let an opportunity to get rid of the competition go so easily.</p><p>    David sighed and gave them both a nudge to run along and spend some time together. "I’ve got too much to do, anyway, if you’ve seen Sis around. Thanks, you've been a big help," he added, giving them both just another slight nudge to get the hell away from him.</p><p>    "Right. Let's go, I guess," she muttered, walking off as if in a total daze. Her friend shook his head and followed, muttering under his breath about wastes of time and crazy gossip. </p><p>    "Holy shit, what the hell is going on?" Paul gasped as he and Marko came running up to the bikes. </p><p>    "What's the matter with you?" David asked, frowning at what appeared to be slushie dumped all over Paul. Marko's shirt had also seen better days. He couldn't tell if someone had thrown something at him or vomited on his chest.</p><p>    "Just tried to pick up some chicks for dinner and it went to hell!" Paul grumbled, wiping at the sticky mess that covered his tight T-shirt. "This had better wash out. David, it was crazy shit: talk about us all doing the same girl, weird shit we're into, some were even saying I can't keep it up unless Marko watched, and I have to be called His Royal Cockness or something to come!" he growled, eyes tinged with pink as he pawed at the icy goo down his front.</p><p>     “You have to be called <em>what?”</em></p><p>Paul nodded so hard his hair flopped across his face. “I know! I mean, that bit’s kind of cute, but still, what the hell, man?!”</p><p>      "She's been writing," Marko murmured, his face tense and searching the skies like he was looking for an angry god.  "That's the only thing I can think of."</p><p>      "I'm not sure that's right," David argued. "I just nearly got throttled by a crowd of angry women for passing girls between all of us and knocking one up," he added dryly.</p><p>     "The fuck? That’s not even possible," Paul growled the frustration making his features harsh and unforgiving. "Well, the last bit, anyway. So what's up then?"</p><p>     "The girl I talked to said some smart-mouthed runaway was talking to her. One who apparently I'd slept with."</p><p>     The other boys' eyes widened. "You got her and you didn't tell us?!" Paul choked, his mouth turning down in a mix of incredulity and irritation. His eyes turned gold and a surge of possessiveness tinged the air.</p><p>     The migraine that had been subsiding came back at full force and David flashed his friend a dark look. He did’t have time to deal with Paul’s weird fixations at the moment.</p><p>     "Not hardly. He means she told someone that to spread all that shit and make us look bad," Marko interpreted. "Man, that's low."</p><p>     "No kidding, that's brilliant!" Paul breathed in quiet admiration. "I mean that blows!" he corrected at David's glare.</p><p>     "No shit. There goes our easiest food source," David sighed, lips drawn tight.</p><p>    "We weren't really enjoying it anyway and those things always come in waves," Marko pointed out.</p><p>    The vampire leader's lip twitched in irritation. "Yeah, but this'll cause us trouble on the Boardwalk."</p><p>    "Mostly only with the locals. It'll die down in a few weeks and we can do damage control. We'll get through it, bro," Paul offered.</p><p>    David grit his teeth. "I don't like being played! I want to find her and figure this shit out!"</p><p>    "Oh yeah, well there is that," Paul agreed. "Any idea where she went?"</p><p>    "No, that's the problem...." he trailed off, his eyes focused across the street where Dwayne had been trying to get it on with a redheaded vixen who apparently had heard the same things the brunette had. He winced as she slammed her leg up between the vampire's legs. <em>Damn, he’s getting a lot of that lately. </em>David knew right then that the girl had a death mark on her just from the lethal glare Dwayne gave her retreating figure. The red in his eyes sure didn't mean that he was looking at her ass.</p><p>     But it wasn't <em>that</em>redhead that made him stop and stare. It was the one a little ways to the side of her that smirked in wicked satisfaction that caught his attention. "Quick," he snapped, off his bike and across the pavement as soon as he said the word, the others easily keeping his pace. Dwayne was too busy trying to get feeling back to his crotch that he didn't look up and to his right, and David didn't dare call out and alert her to their presence. He grinned to the others when Dwayne caught her movement in his field of vision, abruptly reaching out to grab her forearm. “Atta boy, Dwayne!” he chuckled. The brunette had always had been a damn good actor when it came to trapping prey.</p><p>    "Score!" Paul crowed, pumping his fist in the air. The rest of the boys increased their pace pace when she tried to pull away. Dwayne easily prevented her, nodding to where they were approaching.</p><p>    "Looks like we've found the silver lining!" Marko laughed. David grinned in agreement.  For her part, the girl's face went pale before she attempted a look of bravado. So there was hope if she was that frightened. She was vulnerable. </p><p> </p><p>            ****************</p><p>     Jinny shuddered as she watched the approaching figures from across the street. It looked cool on the screen, but those evil smirks were as intimidating as hell in real life. She glanced back up into the satisfied eyes of the vampire that had her by the arm. Like with David, his face was absolutely fascinating, though he was so serious, too intense for his own good. <em>He’d be so cute if he smiled, </em>she thought, and the mental image almost made her heart hurt.<em>What the actual hell is wrong with me? Focus! </em>She lowered her gaze, but that put her eyes on his chest and she absolutely could not look at all that without her face heating.</p><p>     "Can't write yourself out of this one, girl," Dwayne growled, his smirk cold and satisfied. "And I'm keeping my eye on that knee of yours," he added pointedly.</p><p><em>     I’m dead. I’m so dead. What do I do, what do I do? </em>Those dark eyes gave no room for mercy and the planes of his face were just too damn pretty to look directly at for too long. His lips curled up slightly at her fear, the tip of his tongue brushing out over his lower lip in anticipation of her blood. Even so, she felt a weird pull that she couldn’t explain. <em>I’m going to die because my hormones are misfiring. </em>And then it hit her. It was absolutely crazy, yet it made perfect sense. She didn't question or over-analyze the idea, but grabbed the front of Dwayne’s jacket with her free arm and yanked him close. </p><p>   "Not my knee you have to worry about this time, but I’ll make it feel better," she murmured. Before she could lose her nerve she pressed her mouth against his and her free hand gently rubbed between them grinding in slow circles until his grip loosened. She had to fight to release her grip and step out of range of whatever vampire pheromones he was giving off. <em>Okay, so now I get it, </em>she thought dazedly, flicking her tongue over her lip to catch a last taste of him. He tasted like blood and smoke but she actually liked it. She also had to be quick to avoid him actually responding. <em>Please. That would never be a real issue with you and you know it. </em></p><p>     Dwayne was as stunned as Jinny and she shook her head slightly. "You really need to smile more," she sighed, patting his cheek. It was like he didn't even peg her for knowing how to work her tongue in his mouth. <em>I want to stay just like this. I don’t care if he tears my throat out, I just need one more kiss. </em>She shook herself and hastened to back off. <em>Stupid vampire pheromones, what the hell?  </em>"God, why do all of you only go for idiots?" she wondered before she took off running, too shaken by her own reaction to bother with the pack she'd narrowly escaped.</p><p> </p><p>****************</p><p>     "What the hell are you thinking? You let her get away!" Paul groaned by the time they got across the street, shaking his head in disgust, eyes tinged gold as he looked after the escaping woman. "What's the matter with you? A little action and you let her go!"</p><p>     "Maybe she has magic spit or something to go with the writer powers," Marko hypothesized, smirking at Dwayne's dazed expression. "Close your mouth, dude ," he snickered, reaching in to gently push his friend's mouth shut.</p><p>    "You okay?" David asked, eyebrow raised in irritation and bemusement.</p><p>     "I have no idea what just happened," Dwayne managed, making a face as he stalked towards his bike.</p><p>     "You're walking funny," Paul pointed out and grinned at the other's dark glare. </p><p>     Dwayne threw his head back with a groan, hands clenched in his hair as he stared up at the sky.  "Why me, why the hell am I the one getting tortured?" he snarled, shaking in irritation and conflicting pain and pent-up frustration.</p><p>     "Hey, if you can't take it, I'll take your spot," Paul muttered. It was supposed to sound like banter, but there was bitterness there underneath. David silently listened to the exchange, looked from one to the other, but said nothing. "We gonna follow her or what?" he asked as he swung a leg over his ride.</p><p>     "No point, she'll be lost in the crowd by now. We'll catch up to her. She's likely shacking up in one of the usual spots for runaways, so it's just a matter of time," David replied.</p><p>    "Better sooner than later if we want to keep our illustrious reputations," Marko pointed out. "Though why would she make up all that shit when she could just tell what she really knew?"</p><p>     The leader nodded. "Don't think I haven't thought of that. What was it she said to you after that surprise attack?" he asked Dwayne, unable to keep the smirk off his face.</p><p>    "That I need to smile more. Whatever, I'm a likeable guy," he growled, glaring at the passing glances he was getting. "And that I only go for idiots. Well, we all do. She didn't say it like she was pissed, though. It wasn't like last time. She didn't pull the author card. It was more like she was…I don’t know, sad."</p><p>    "Interesting," David mused, mind already hitting light speed. </p><p>     "She does get that's mostly just for hunting or scratching the odd itch, right?" Marko pointed out. "I mean she writes us, she bragged about all the things she helped us get up to, she'd know. It's weird that out of everything she'd comment on that."</p><p>     "Dude, chicks are weird in general!" Paul muttered, shaking his head in disgust until a particularly tall blonde slid into his peripheral vision. "They're fun as hell, though," he added, though only his eyes followed the beauty. </p><p>    "Maybe she has weird writer territory issues," Dwayne suggested, the pained look on his face a little less evident.</p><p>     "Dunno. I haven't gone after someone without killing afterwards in so long. I guess I've never really thought about the ins and outs of it," Paul mused. </p><p>     "Listen to us! This is making us way too paranoid. Come on, let's get some dinner and get to work. The sooner we take care of this the better," David snapped. As one they took off with engines roaring into the night.</p>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Down and Out in Santa Carla</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Survival gets harder, even with some new friends, and David puts the pressure on.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jinny was getting better at finding decently stocked dumpsters, just as she was getting better at pick-pocketing and petty theft. She’d had to grow more daring out of necessity if she wanted to avoid robbing houses, getting asked too many questions donating plasma, or a few other options she didn’t want to consider. Either the boys had assumed she wouldn’t show her face on their turf or she’d gotten lucky nudging her migration patterns to include the Boardwalk. Even avoiding security was becoming less of a problem. She still wasn't gutsy enough to make a constant habit of going down to the local hot spot, though it had nothing to do with the rent-a-cops. In all aspects she was quickly learning how much she could accomplish when she realized she simply didn't care.</p><p>Things were different in this Santa Carla, or maybe she’d finally gotten used to her cut-off way of life. Either way, it was getting harder and harder to spy on the vampires, to watch them live their lives and not give a damn about her for the most part. They orbited each other warily, knowing the other party existed, but unable to get too close. It was that other little margin where they did care that scared the crap out of her. </p><p><em>Why me, anyway? Why should I be the one to get stuck here. There are better writers, ones with bigger followings and the right friends. </em>Her fiction had never had that much of a following and she had never really been among the core group of writers that seemed to keep the output flowing, either back in the day or when little knots of the fandom resurfaced ages later. Indeed, she missed out on most of that, coming in too late after friendships had already been established, after plots and unofficial character traits were passed along as firmly as if they had happened in the movie. Jinny had never been proud of her slight jealousy in that regard and had always hidden it deep down, never daring to open her mouth about it. It wasn't like most of her big ideas would ever get finished – she had too much to do in the real world to keep afloat to spend all her time in her head - and those that did know her could only offer so much encouragement, especially when her plot lines kept changing, her moods kept swinging, and they couldn't figure out what was going on.</p><p>She often wondered if she had done the wrong thing by making her fiction so obviously focused on the sexual. That wasn't all that the fandom was about, after all. It held the allure of escape, of so many possibilities. The characters had been blank pages in so many ways, and had drawn her in upon first viewing, until she just had to figure out what they might be about. <em>For all the good it did me. It’s the same story with my original work. I just can’t get it together. Maybe I really don’t know why I’m writing and what I’m writing about. </em>Maybe all of the stories she had put so much work into were nothing more than a series of jokes on her own frustration, her own inability to break the barrier between herself and the real world. She loved the friends she had in the fandom dearly, but she never could feel as if she was as much a part of the universe as they seemed to be. <em>Be one of us. Yeah, right. Didn’t apply to me then, sure as hell doesn’t apply to me now. </em></p><p><em>So why the hell is it me here and not one of them? </em>Jinny mused bitterly as she stared down into the recently-filled dumpster as if it were some divining tool. It was what her life had come down to. Shelters were a risk after she’d caught Marko sniffing around. At some point <em>anywhere </em>she tried to hide was a target, so her only option was to constantly move, which meant fine dining in Santa Carla’s back alleys once she’d sussed out different eateries’ schedules. <em>If it had been anyone else they wouldn't have fucked up so badly. Hell, they would've been welcomed with open arms or found themselves saving the boys or mated to the whole gang or some shit. </em>The sick part was that now she didn't even have her friends to turn to for advice, empathy, or a good kick in the pants. <em>I must be in a bad place, I'm even missing the blunt criticism and judgment.</em></p><p>The loneliness was getting to her. Her life hadn’t been perfect, but it had been hers, including her choice to be antisocial or go hang out with people. Now, the only way she could really guarantee she’d wake up alive was to keep to herself. She sighed and kept digging, trying hard to ignore the usual group of runaways that always gathered right after the Italian food joint threw out their excess from the evening. She listened to their chatter but never talked much, never participated for fear she'd rope them in as accessories if the Lost Boys ever caught up with her. But they were an interesting group of individuals that had their own pasts and lack of futures. It was an eye-opening experience to see the back alleys and the souls that inhabited them, the places and people that the movie never touched. <em>I always loved the movie because everyone had a story beneath the surface. Little did I know.</em></p><p>She’d fallen in with a group of tweens and teens, despite her efforts to be a lone wolf. They let her keep to the periphery, though, didn’t push her, and had proved to at least be something of a support system in this strange new world. Jax was fifteen, from New Mexico, and wanted to be a world-famous surfer. Bridget was twelve and trying to get away from her alcoholic uncle who was her guardian because her parents had died in a car wreck. Derek was thirteen and always had his dog, Alvin, with him, though she was more certain of the beagle's cleanliness than the youth's. They were all so young. Jinny was barely in her mid-twenties, but she was clearly the elder and did her best to keep an eye out and always made sure that they ate before she did. It was odd that her conscience still came before her survival, at least in regards to the right people.</p><p><em>Don’t kid yourself, </em>her brain taunted as she made a face and picked through old salad greens. <em>You can’t get them involved with your drama. You’re stuck, on your own. You’re not even one of the lost here. You’re nothing, no one, and that’s how it has to be if you want to keep those kids safe. </em></p><p>She stared down at the half-eaten calzone that was in her hands and fought the urge to scream how she didn't belong curled over that dumpster, stuck in that alley, in that way of life. That was the bitch of it, though: none of them deserved it. All it took was one bad move, one wrong choice, and it could happen to anyone. Her nose wrinkled at the slightly pungent odor, even though she knew the food probably wouldn't kill her. <em>Just do it. You have to eat tonight. Your clothes have gotten way too loose and it's not just because they're wearing out. Come on, just like when you were little. Five bites or so, just get it down. </em>She closed her eyes, braced herself, and dug in.</p><p>The sad thing was it hadn't even been that long in the scheme of life. A month and a half, two months, tops. She had to find a job, though that had proved impossible. She also had to stay out of sight to keep alive. She had to do <em>something</em>, though, and soon. Her hair was fading, which helped give her a little anonymity, but she had no doubt that she’d be recognized if the right person got close enough.</p><p>"Where's Lotta?" Bridget asked and she tried to remember where she had last seen the pretty eigheen-year-old who wanted to be a model in the worst way. It was the whole reason she had come out to California, and it worried Jinny that Lotta seemed willing to do whatever it took. She was ambitious, but she was also reckless.</p><p>"Probably trying to pull one last trick. She hasn't been doing that great lately," Jax mumbled around a mouthful of soggy pizza. Jinny turned and stared at the tanned boy with long, stringy dark hair that clung to his face.</p><p>"What? But she's a kid!"</p><p>"Wow, the mime speaks!" Jax muttered, bemused. "She’s legal. Gotta do what ya have to, you know that." he replied. "Her choice. We've all come to grips with it at some point."</p><p>She nodded and shuddered. Maybe Lotta had made peace with the decision but she could never go that far, though it was quickly looking like one of her few options. She could make a little here and there as a go between for dealers, but that brought attention she didn’t necessarily want. She’d traded information here and there, but setting up meets usually involved putting one of the kids on the line to cover her ass. It wasn't activity that she wanted to associate with Santa Carla, though she was quickly seeing things that she never would have thought about when thinking of one of her favorite movies.</p><p>"Hey, Mute!" Bridget called and Jinny glanced up, used to that moniker by now. It was as good as anything else, and appropriate given her few words. "You find any tourists with big pockets tonight?"</p><p>She shook her head. She hadn't been down to the Boardwalk in a few days, but there was no reason to tell them all of the obstacles that kept her away. "New security guards. They're still trying to impress. Give it a week." She hoped it wouldn't take nearly that long. She'd kill for a new change of clothes. Selling off what she’d had in the suitcase was proving to be a dumb move, though food had been a better option at the time. <em>Maybe it would be easier if I just followed Lotta's example. You gotta do what you gotta do, after all. Maybe I could just...</em>Who was she kidding? She'd never be able to pull tricks, just like she didn't have it in her to rob anything bigger than unsuspecting old people who couldn't give a decent chase or do more than break into unlocked cars.</p><p>No shadow fell over the dumpsters, but Jinny felt the change in the air. She knew he was there before he even spoke. She shuddered and bent her body over the lip of the dumpster even more and brought the hood of her jacket up to hide her face.            </p><p>"You kids want to earn some cash?" David’s voice was casual but commanding. If his voice wasn't, his words sure as hell were. Even she was tempted by the mere mention of currency.</p><p>She pointedly kept her head down and stayed away as the others rushed towards the vampire. She gave herself to the count of three before moving to the other side of the dumpster, ducking down out of sight, but pointedly staying near a source that could block her smell. She only wished she could stop her heartbeat. </p><p>"What's it going to take?" Bridget asked warily, fully aware of what random strangers wanted some of them to do for cash. </p><p>The vampire’s voice wasn’t quite soft, but it wasn’t the holier-than-thou tone she was used to hearing. "Nothing drastic. I just need some information," he assured them. "You know of any new chicks in town? This one's like twenty-something, short, red hair, clean-cut, probably staying in one of the lesser-known places. Big mouth, anger issues?" he added hopefully.</p><p>"Sorry, man," Derek replied glumly and leaned down to ruffle Alvin's ears when the dog whined, obviously intimidated by the vampire's presence. "I wish we could help you," he added and cast a longing glance at the bills in David's hand. It was so odd to hear the kid talking to the vampire as if they were equals. But then again, he had nothing to lose and he knew it.</p><p>"What about anyone that hangs out here?" he asked.</p><p>"Sorry, no regulars. You really need to find Mute," Jax suggested and Jinny nearly bit through her tongue.</p><p>“I don’t remember a kid called Mute,” David replied.</p><p>“Nah, not a kid. Probably your age, it’s hard to tell. She’s not a teen, but she’s got a young face. Not old, though, either.” She held her breath, curled tighter behind the dumpster as they looked around. "Weird, I thought she was just here. She comes and goes as she pleases, doesn’t get close to anyone or stay in one place for long. She watches everyone, though, knows a lot about everything." She glanced down at herself, relieved that not many of David's adjectives still described her. Even so, he would still know. "She's the one that fraternizes with the tourists and she knows security's schedule pretty well. She'd be able to help you better than we would.  Good luck finding your friend, though."</p><p>David paused in thought and she could feel his wheels turning. "This Mute. She doesn't crash at Max’s video regularly? Any idea where to find her?"</p><p>Bridget shrugged. “She kinda stays away and then pop up.  Won't go near the Boardwalk unless she needs cash, though. She’s almost obsessive about not staying put for very long."</p><p><em>Oh shut up, shut up you stupid girl! </em>David was silent and she cursed herself for thinking so much, quickly blanked her mind in fear of those eyes and the icy feeling of his mind plowing into hers. </p><p>"Really? She ever say why?" he asked, his voice only showing vague curiosity.</p><p>"Think it's because of the guards. She has no love for them and they hate dealing with her ever since she bit one of them," Jax snickered and even Jinny fought a smirk at that little memory. The poor guy had to be taken in for stitches and ever since then it had been an uphill battle if she ran into any member of Boardwalk security    </p><p>"Interesting," David murmured, probably considering his options.   A few tense seconds passed and she momentarily thought she saw his gaze flick straight to her - but then he was carefully dishing out the bills. "Good work, kids. You deserve something for your time," he decided. She was just relieved he didn't butcher the lot of them, though instinctively she knew he was above that. Teens and adults were one thing, but children or the truly defenseless...that wasn't in David, killer or not. Then again, she'd been wrong before. </p><p>Jinny quickly slunk off down the alley, never so aware of the sound of her feet on the pavement, the soft pant of her breath, and every noise around her. It was just late enough that she could probably get past any guards in the parking lot by the Boardwalk. There was a makeshift shack so people could wait under a roof in the rain. She would sleep there for the night since it would be the last place the vampires would look. She'd wake with the dawn and go from there. She had contemplating leaving town altogether, but where would she really go? Oddly, it had become home, even though she hated it. Besides, there was nothing to go to, no one to run to. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Up Close and Personal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny gets to see just what kind of things the boys are capable of while she contemplates her own lack of options.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Vampire violence ahead!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The clouds made inky, blotchy patterns against the darker blackness of the sky.  Jinny shuddered as the breeze picked up and the temperature cooled.  The parking lot was a vast and cracked obsidian desert now that the lights were turned off for the night and there were no cars to hide behind. She slowly approached the chain link fence as if it were an old confidant and only glanced around briefly before her hands took hold of the metal. She propelled her body up against the fence with minimal noise, stilling herself before she slowly began to climb. She got better with every time she had to scale the thing and she never had repeated the mistake of getting caught on the barbed wire at the top. Tearing her leg open once because she had been trying to rush was a valuable lesson she didn't intend to repeat. The injury had cost her a few days of being able to go out and about, and that meant three days with an empty stomach. Her thigh was still sore, though she had kept it reasonably clean and it had healed fairly well.  It wasn't like she could do much more than hope for the best.</p><p>When she had gotten to the other side Jinny braced herself and let go, dropping to the asphalt with a muffled thud. She kept her body low as her eyes scanned the empty gauntlet she had yet to cross. There didn't seem to be anyone around, but sometimes the new guys did one last sweep. There always seemed to be an influx of guards; she didn't know if it was because the job sucked that much or because they came up against other...variables. A soft, resigned sigh escaped as the sky opened up, starting with a fine mist that slowly evolved into a long, steady downpour. </p><p>            <br/>"Fabulous," she muttered, the sound of her own voice alien now that she had grown accustomed to not using it. The instant and total effect of the rain made her shiver at how her soaked clothes molded to her skin, the wet fabric squishing uninvitingly every time she moved. But there was nothing to do about it but to keep moving and get dry later. </p><p>There was absolutely no one else around. The small redhead shuddered at the realization of how alone and exposed she was, but she was also dead tired and ready to be done with the evening. "Oh what the hell," she snorted and took off for the shelter at a quick walk, though she hated how obvious it was that a random figure was strutting across the open area. Hopefully she would be hard to spot among the sheets of steadily-falling rain.</p><p>It was slow going and every so often she would break into a shudder when the cold and the wet sunk a little deeper, a little more fully into her. Her hair was soon plastered to her face and raindrops even caught themselves between her eyelashes. She paused to wipe her face, though it did little good with her drenched sleeve. "Eh, I needed a bath anyway," she sighed and surveyed the sky in numb resignation.</p><p>The parking lot seemed to go on forever, to make up the entire world; the only way Jinny knew she was making headway was by the amount of lines she was passing. Finally she arrived and breathed a low sigh as she ducked under the low roof and prepared to curl up on the graffiti-covered bench. It wasn't home or the Hilton, wasn't even Motel 6. But a jacket over her, her arm for a pillow, and the chronicles of who was doing who on the bench as reading material was enough for an evening. And it was a slight respite from the weather, even if droplets still leaked through the cracks. It was still better than most of the alternatives.    </p><p>Her ear perked and she frowned and paused in the process of bedding down for the night. She took in the sound that was muffled by the patter of rain on the roof, her ears struggling to identify the soft patter as footsteps or her shredded imagination.  It was likely nothing, but to assume could be a grave mistake. A quick glance proved that there wasn't much available to hide behind. Under the bench was too obvious, behind the shelter was just as bad...and the sound was growing louder, coming closer, and quickly accompanied by voices and the brief flutter of flashlight beams that looked warped and ethereal in the watery night.</p><p>She growled, lips curling in distaste as she spied the garbage can. She was just small enough that it was probably her only option. She strode over, flung up the lid and shook her head as she stared into the metallic chasm. "So it comes to this. The adventure of a lifetime and I'm hiding in a damn garbage can," she groaned, yanking out the full bag and tossing it on the ground before climbing in and popping the top down into place. It was cramped, smelled like a teenage boy's gym locker mixed with swamp gas, and she did not want to know what the wet substance under her was.</p><p>"Over here," a young male voice called and she watched through the slit of the can as a group of about seven guards came into her limited view. The last shift, probably carpooling. They were overachievers, the lot of them. The light beamed her way and she ducked down, hoping that the motion wouldn't attract attention.</p><p>"C'mon, I wanna get home. It's been a long-ass day and it's pouring!" a lean chick in short shorts and a long pony tail complained. It was hard to hear their speech over the metallic rhythm of the rain on the top of the garbage can but if Jinny focused she could get about every other word and fill in the rest on her own. The female in question was a particularly harsh foe, more so than the portly trio of men or the other two that came off like glorified frat boys. They were hiring younger people these days, which was a shame. With the older men she could always talk her way out of a situation using the pity card. With these idiots she almost had to flirt or contemplate worse. None of them were extremely bright, but it wasn't an extremely tough job. </p><p>"Shut up, I thought I heard..." the young blond dude muttered and she bit her lip as the light grew brighter and he came closer. Jinny briefly envied the large umbrellas they all held but that emotion was replaced by the pounding of her heart as the guard's fingertips idly rested on the lip of the trash can. "Damn, can't the janitorial service do its job?" he sighed, bending to pick up the bag. She scrunched down hard, wincing at how she had to contort her body.</p><p>"Leave it, not our job," one of the tubbier guards told him. "And there's nothing out here," he added, walking around the building for emphasis.</p><p>"Come on, it's been a long day," one of the frat boys soothed and even his voice was ragged, exhausted. She smiled grimly, nevertheless. It meant that soon they'd be shirking their duties all over the Boardwalk. Her spine and legs were throbbing by the time they finally took off to their car, heading away from that lot and to the employee one. Her head began to pound at the constant percussion going on around her and she shuddered, lungs full of the stagnant air of the garbage can, her sinuses becoming quite unhappy with the whole situation in general. </p><p>"Hey, wait!" Jinny blinked and peered up through the slot at this new and horribly familiar voice.</p><p>"Boardwalk's closed!" one of the frat boys snapped, trying to look bad ass as David jogged up from the darkness, Marko right behind him. Or at least it looked like them...a really deranged version of them. <em>What crazy au did I fall into now?</em>Jinny thought. David would never be in jeans and a tshirt and Marko would never be caught dead..or undead in khakis and a polo shirt. It was a sick episode of the Twilight Zone, an unaired episode of the Outer Limits and she wondered with more than a little dread if they had pulled this before without her noticing. They still were recognizable, but she had grown to expect the usual image, which now seemed to be a potentially fatal mistake. She had just had to rib them about their clothes! </p><p>Though the temptation to bust a gut at Marko fiddling with his collar was one she almost gave into. Neither vampire seemed to care that they were getting drenched. It wasn't like they had to worry about getting sick. "Yeah, sorry. We're looking for our sister. Any chance you could help us out?" Marko replied and if she hadn't known otherwise she would have bought it completely. The group of guards paused and glanced at each other.</p><p>"Look, the place is closed. She won't be here," one of the others sighed, shuddering as the tempo of raindrops increased. "You'd have a better shot during the day, anyway."</p><p>"Yeah, but...come on man, she's our little sister!" David protested and she fought a snort. Please. There was something downright vulnerable about his face, though it didn't quite reach his eyes. Oh, he was good and he knew it. She shuddered, was furious that he would go to such lengths to get revenge. <em>What am I to them? Why can’t they just let me go at this point?</em></p><p>"Fine," one of the portly ones finally sighed, wistfully looking towards the employee lot. "What's she look like?"</p><p>"Bout as tall as I am," Marko began. "Brownish-red hair...step-sister," he added when they looked skeptical. </p><p>"She as stuck in the eighties as you two are?" the chick snorted, inciting laughter from the others. The two vampires let this go, though, only glancing at each other. Something in that look made her lean forward just a little, fingers twitching against the damp metal of the garbage can.</p><p>"We think she may have gotten into some trouble. I heard she's going by the name Mute. She may be involved in petty theft with some of the tourists?" David added, eyebrows raising for emphasis and she nearly screamed. Now security would at least be looking out for someone with her description for that reason alone. He was slowly tightening her circle of existence, forcing her to go to more and more extremes or else expose herself.</p><p>"She was trying to get away from our Mom. There were...issues at home,"  Marko went on carefully, and she marveled at how convincingly his jaw tightened, how his eyes went dark as he spoke. "Things are better now and we've come to get her back."</p><p>"Look, I wish we could help you out but we haven't seen this girl!" the woman sighed.</p><p>"You don't even have a list of where she could be? Known haunts for runaways?" David asked, his shoulders slumping. Her legs were curled up and the muscles in her thighs and calves were beginning to burn. A slow pain crept up her spine and it was getting harder to tolerate the stagnant air and tamper down rampant thoughts of what she could be crouched in. Water dripped from her hair into her eyes and down her face, making her a curled-up mess of wetness and misery.</p><p>"You can check the dumpsters; sometimes runaways gather there, they crash here or try to hide in the rides. Usually not on a night like this, though. Hope that helps, but we really don't have much for you."</p><p>"No kidding. But that's okay," David drawled, his expression instantly hardening in irritation before he became outright demonic.</p><p>It happened so fast that she was barely aware when it ended, though she would remember it for many long, sleepless nights to come. It was one thing to write about it in stories that glossed over the carnage aspect of vampirism or to see the few brief scenes in the movie, but to see it play out in real-life time...      </p><p>Even in the rain the whole parking lot in front of her seemed stained with red. Things flew out of the bodies and the humans' bones contorted in ways that shouldn't have been possible. Jinny shuddered, hands pressed flat against the gummy interior in front of her as she tried not to scream, tried to keep her stomach under control as stomachs were slit open, necks snapped, blood sent flying. The woman tried to run, but her intestines slid out onto the pavement, causing her to fall over them and crack her head on the ground. Laughing, David grabbed one end of the slimy organ and tugged the whimpering, still-alive victim his way. She wanted to shut her eyes, didn't want to see. <em>That could be me. That will be me if they find me.</em>No, her death would be much worse.           </p><p>And the <em>sounds </em>of it all! Even when she closed her eyes she knew those were not sounds to be messed with. Especially that satisfied, dark laughter. She was ready to wet herself but was terrified they'd be able to smell it. And what made it worse was that she was still mentally taking notes, purposefully memorizing those sounds and smells and the horrible things that she made herself watch. Part of her didn't even mind having to watch it happen, was almost thankful she could see it for herself.           </p><p>When it was over the two vampires stood in the middle of the leftovers, breathing heavily, sated. Or she assumed so. Her eyes widened as David strode over, his body language clearly showing how pissed off he was. If nothing else, that point was brought home as he slammed his foot into the garbage can she was hiding in, growling in frustration. Her head rang as her body slammed back against the far wall of the confined space and she choked back a cry.</p><p>"Calm down," Marko sighed. He was saying something else, presumably reassuring, but her ears were ringing too badly to catch it all. Jinny struggled to adjust herself, amazed that neither of them saw her ass nearly sticking out of the garbage can. Maybe she could run away and join the circus, her bones would probably never be in the correct spots ever again..</p><p>"We're getting fucking nowhere!" David snarled. "I don't get it. We had her. We fucking <em>had </em> her! She doesn't have that many options, she doesn't know anyone! I thought she would've been easier to follow," he snarled. </p><p>"Look, we'll get her," Marko insisted, wiping gore-stained hands on the front of his pants, the rain aiding in the clean-up.</p><p>"I can't live like this," David shot back, leaning over the garbage can. She swallowed, eyes raising to look at the metal lid above her when his fingertips incessantly began to rap against the metal. "It's...there's no fun. It's either too easy or boring or...fuck. I can't even tell if she did something or if it's us worrying about it!" He sighed, fumbling for a cigarette. "You smell her? She been here? I thought I caught something at the dumpster earlier tonight, but there were too many kids around, too many scents mixing with the garbage."</p><p>"I can't man...not after a kill and not in the rain," Marko admitted. "It may just be us. We're worried about it, so it takes over," he pointed out. "Surely one human can't have that much control over a group of vampires."</p><p>"But we don't know. I knew she wasn't lying about the other parts, wild as it all sounded, but the rest, I couldn't tell," David admitted softly. She felt for him, weirdly enough. She knew that tone of frustration at defeat all too well. "I mean, theoretically it could be possible. Hell, anything is possible," he added. "The very fact we exist proves that. This is fucking stupid," the leader of the pack raved, shaking his head as he bent to retrieve something from the ground. Marko busied himself with stuffing the garbage bag with random bits of intestine. "I hate living under this shadow. It's like I'm waiting to wake up one night and have my cock shrink because she's in a foul mood!"</p><p>"I highly doubt she's capable of that," Marko pointed out. "If that had been the case I'd have thought Paul and Dwayne would have lost their equipment by now." The joke was lost on David at the moment. He continued to pace, waving whatever he had picked up in the air.</p><p>"But we don't know! That's the shitty thing. We. Don't. Know," David growled, idly walking back over to the trash can. She braced herself, but all he did was toss some random object right into her lap.  She shuddered at the smell of the refuse, biting her tongue at the urge to throw whatever garbage he had tossed right back out at him, preferably at his head at a high velocity. "Bad enough she spread all that shit about us..."</p><p>"She was angry. Can you blame her?" Marko sighed, shrugging as he pushed his drenched hair out of his eyes.</p><p>"But about what? What set her off? It came from out of nowhere. Wait, what did you say before?"</p><p>"What, about the cock-shrinking thing? Joke, D. I seriously doubt any of us are going to lose anything we hold dear," Marko sighed, and his tone was one Jinny had heard her parents use a lot when she had been in high school. </p><p>"No, besides that."</p><p>"I just said if anyone deserved it, it would probably be Paul and Dwayne. I mean really, I know we wanted to prove that we were all that and that she should get used to what we're capable of, but seeing those two in action may not have been the best call."</p><p>"Yeah, you may be right. There's something going on there, something we're missing," David admitted, hand tapping the top of the can idly. “I thought it would drive her out into the open and we’d be able to deal with her easily enough. Make a deal or end it right there.” Jinny fumed, her eyes going wide at the realization that it had been a set up. She still didn't mourn the loss of the girl, but to have been made to watch <em>that</em>just so she would get some stupid point! "Things did seem to pick up right after that," he mused thoughtfully. “Maybe...well, it's worth thinking about," David murmured and Jinny frowned, wondering what was going on in that head of his. </p><p>He backed away, shaking his head as he glanced back at Marko wo was busy stuffing random parts into the already stuffed trash bag. "Don't worry ‘bout it. We'll take it all when we leave," David grumbled, obviously pissed at the exchange even though there had been enough guards for both of them to feed well.  She tensed as she watched Marko going for the wallets, hissing in frustration. That was more proof that whatever karma that existed in Santa Carla absolutely hated her. She could have done with some of the dough at the moment. </p><p>"You hear that?" David snapped, head raising instantly. She froze and closed her eyes, tightly willing herself to just disappear.</p><p>"What?" Marko paused as well until the only sound she could hear was the splatting of rain above her and the dull roll of thunder as the storm slowly passed over the city.         </p><p>David said nothing, but hook his head and started walking her way. Jinny fought the groan, held her breath and closed her eyes. At any moment the lid would be lifted, she would be triumphantly discovered like the toy in some kid's meal, and then she'd die.</p><p>There was a low moan and a wet crack and she slowly understood that one of the guards had still been alive and David had just broken his spine. It was little comfort, but at least it wasn't her. "We've got to be more careful. The senses get warped when we feed too much. Never had to worry about that excessively before," he added ruefully.</p><p>"It could be the quality, too. Fuck, I need something to get the taste out of my mouth," Marko muttered, making a particularly displeased face. "I hate rent-a-cops, they always taste so cheap."</p><p>"No wonder we're all so irritable. They carrying anything good?"</p><p>"Nah, they must not carry much while at work. A few bills, no plastic or anything," Marko sighed as he stood from his work, shrugging. "Wait, set of keys," he added a few moments later, pulling out a small set from one of the blood-drenched pants pockets on a mutilated torso. "Shouldn't be hard to find. We could check it out, see if we can sell it or something. I think Paulie knows some guys."</p><p>"Fair enough, we can always stand to use more cash. Alright, let's go. I need out of these clothes," David decided.</p><p>"I can't believe we've come to this," Marko agreed in disgust. "And all because of some girl."</p><p>"Well it sure as hell ain't because of her feminine wiles," David snorted. "Though maybe it is time for a change of image, at least here and there. We'd be harder for her to spot that way," he decided. "At any rate, I have to know if she's a threat. And if she is, she'll have to be dealt with. We'll get her. C'mon, let's blow."</p><p>They were gone, but she stayed put for a long, long time, shuddering within the confines as she replayed the incident in her head on a loop. When she finally did get out she was amazed she could even move. It wasn't until she was outside of the garbage can that she realized she had taken whatever thing David had tossed in her lap with her. </p><p>Despite her hardened behavior Jinny screamed as she focused on and then dropped the severed hand, her heart nearly busting out of her chest. "Shit!" she gasped, breathing hard. She carefully stepped over the appendage, looking for the trash bag until she realized that they must have taken it with them. Well, at least they were thorough. With a sigh she dumped the hand back in the can, figuring it would liven up some poor worker's day. Then again, maybe they were used to it around here. </p><p>A small flash of pale pink caught her eye around the other side of the trash can and she frowned and stiffly walked over to see what it was. When she realized it was a purse she immediately grinned, the movement so unused for so long that her face hurt at the intensity of it all. With trembling hands she worked the top open and nearly sobbed at the contents.  "Jackpot," she breathed, licking her lips at the credit cards, the checkbook, the stack of bills still in their bank envelope. "I always did love payday," she added, not able to decide if she wanted to laugh or cry.  This was all enough to get out of town with, to start somewhere else with, to get away with.</p><p>Though she knew she was kidding herself. They'd never let her go and if any of this was a sign, fate would drag her back, anyway. Stories had a way of doing that, and she was sure that was what she was immersed in. God only knew who was writing it, but it was the only possible explanation. She didn't want to think of the alternative, that she was the stranger in a new kind of real world, that this was it and she was shit out of luck.</p><p>Jinny's hand brushed something hard and she quickly brought out a small, but very lethal, handgun. She gave a low whistle. "Boardwalk badges don't pack," she mused, turning it over in her hand. "Man, she really was a bitch," she laughed, though in admiration now. With new resolve she began stuffing everything back into the small bag before fleeing the scene. </p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Move On</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny gets the chance to help her friends, but finds herself backed further into a corner.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>TW: mentions of prostitution, non-consent/assault, and abuse</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jinny strode up the stairs of the defunct video shop to the second floor, though her gait was a little tired and very stiff.  "Payday boys and girls!" she called hoarsely as she entered the upper room, swallowing against the raw feeling in her throat. A cold was a small price to pay for what she had found, though it was also enough to make her seek real shelter for a few days. As she had suspected, Jax and the crew were crashing in the unused room and they looked up from their warm fast food feast in curiosity.</p><p>"What you got can't be better than ours," Derek retorted, though his face wasn't as happy as it should've been.</p><p>"What..." She followed his gaze and nearly dropped her load, hissed at the sight in the corner. Bridget sat timidly on the sofa, dabbing with a dirty paper towel at someone's head. She rushed over and gasped. "Lotta!" she breathed, shaking her head at the waif who was laid out, her lip split and eye blackened. She clutched Derek’s beagle with shaking hands.</p><p>"I'm fine," she croaked. "But this'll set me back."</p><p>“Oh, Lotta," she sighed as she knelt by the usually gorgeous girl who was mentally so much older than the child she still was, legal or not. "What happened?"</p><p>"Thought it was just like usual. If a loaded businessman comes up and says he wants to play a game, run," she snorted, wincing as soon as she did so.</p><p>"Lotta," she whispered, fingers tracing the smudges of tears on her cheeks as she saw the empty look in the younger girl's eyes. "Did he..."</p><p>'I'm fine!" she snapped and tried to turn away, though she gasped in soft pain as she attempted the move. "I'm okay," she whispered, lip quivering. "This wasn't what I wanted," she added as Bridget quickly grabbed her hand protectively. "God, I just want my Mom!" she babbled, tears brimming over the purple bruises on her face.</p><p>Jinny frowned and gently stroked the pale blonde hair that was all natural and flecked with blood. A good lump was already forming under her hair. "Do you mean that?" she whispered, sniffing back the sudden surge of liquid that seemed to gather in her nose, swallowing against the tickle that urged her to cough.</p><p>Lotta looked up with eyes so dead, so hopeless that her heart nearly broke. "Yeah. I do. But I can't...I've already...I was so stupid!"</p><p>"No! Oh no, no baby," she insisted as she hushed the younger girl's sobs. "Here," she added, yanking out the purse and pushing a credit card into her hands, pausing to give in to that scritch in her throat, turning her head to cough into her wet jacket sleeve. "If you can work fast, if you can leave tonight, do it. At least get medical attention," she added.</p><p>Lotta's eyes focused on the object and then widened. "What the hell?" she gasped.</p><p>"Hit pay dirt," was all she said. "Here. None of you should be living like this. You'll all have to work fast, and I can't tell you what to do with it, but...I just hope it helps. I hope it's enough," she added, plucking out the other cards and the checkbook.</p><p>"Oh my God," Derek breathed, clutching at his share as if it would fade away come morning. Bridget could only cry.</p><p>Jax regarded the scene with cool, glittering eyes. He was the most mercenary of the group, though she’d grown to like the kid, even if he did think she was a hopeless case when it came to surfing. He licked his lip and shook his head. "But what about you?"</p><p><em>If I get them out, they won’t be in the way if the boys come after me. I can let this end and not feel guilty about getting others involved. </em>"This is more important and I still have some things to do around here. I'll be alright, I've kept enough to get me through. Go on, go home, get help, get the hell out of here," she insisted, shaking as a chill wormed through her. </p><p>"Oh, Mute!" Bridget whimpered, throwing her arms around the older girl. "You should be called Angel, you know that?"</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, I'm freakin' Robin Hood. Now go on before those accounts are frozen! Put your forgery skills to good use," she urged, smiling slightly as they took off and said quick good-byes. "Lotta?" she called and the model wannabe turned as much as she could. "You gonna be okay?"</p><p>"Yeah. they'll help me out. Thanks."</p><p>She nodded. "Be good, okay? No more of this shit."</p><p>The blonde nodded and tried to smile. "I'll do my best. I think I've had enough for a while," she added dryly. "I'm just lucky to have had two angels tonight."</p><p>"Two?"</p><p>"Yeah. You and the guy who saved my ass. He came up out of nowhere, nearly ripped the guy's car door right off."</p><p>Jinny frowned, shivered. She’d been around Santa Carla enough to know that white knights weren’t a typical occurance. "Did...was he a cop?"</p><p>"Hell no, they aren't that bright. He was...looked not too much older than me, maybe about your age. Native American maybe? Leather jacket, long hair? Pretty hot...must have been religious or something though, wore a rosary, but on his waist."</p><p>She blinked, for once dumbfounded. <em>Why would he put himself out there, or even care? Why would any of them? </em>"Did he do anything? Make you do anything?"</p><p>The younger girl blanched. "God no! He yanked the bastard off and threw him on the ground, told me to run home and not look back," Lotta replied before heading out the door, Jax guiding her. </p><p>Jinny shook her head at the bizarre situation. She knew they must have standards, but it didn’t align with the violent display she’d seen earlier that evening. "Whatever," she sighed. She was too tired to make sense of any of it anymore. Her writer complex had slowly turned into a weary acceptance, though that could have been the sudden exhaustion that tugged at her whole body. She glanced at the sack of food she'd carried in, but she couldn't rouse any real excitement over it. It seemed to goad her, flaunting its deliciousness but knowing that she had no desire to eat, even if she hadn't filled her stomach for real in a while. Anger shook her and the claws of rationalization suddenly let go so that all she could do was feel the swirl of vulnerability, anger, jealousy, hopelessness, and every other thing that seemed to taunt her with eyes that could also see into her mind. </p><p>"What's happened to me?" she whispered, biting her lip and lowering her head as her eyes burned, her eyes closing quickly to keep the tears at bay. "I used to know who I was, but I don't know who I am anymore these days," she murmured, stomach turning as her shoulders hitched violently. "I used to be called Jinny," she murmured, biting her lip until the sobs did bubble up and out, until she was nearly bent over crying into the dirty fabric of her sleeve. "I used to have a name, I used to have a home, friends...I used to be a person!" she almost snarled, as if to affirm the fact that she wasn't crazy, that she had been something of worth once. </p><p>"But I have no fucking clue who I am now," she sighed, rising to her feet unsteadily, a look of sheer disdain on her face. With unsteady hands she fumbled in her backpack d pulled out the loose pages and composition books of old stories and the half-finished fic she had arrived with. It wasn't the best place to keep it, and the rain had nearly washed the print away while disintegrating the paper, but if that was the worst of her Achilles heels, she'd take it. She had kept that piece only because it was supposed to have been a comfort to her and she hated leaving anything without an end. But it was nothing but words on paper, stupidity at its finest. </p><p>She went to the corner where a neglected wastebasket still sat and ripped the pages from the book, tossed them into the can. A small booklet of matches lay on the floor, presumably from Jax's recent cigarette habit. She considered it slowly before tugging a flimsy stick free and scritching it against the book, shuddering at the raspy sound it made. A month ago she would have been embarrassed by her work but would never have considered scrapping it, let alone torching it. But a few moments of actual warmth was a hell of a better choice at the moment.</p><p>The small flame popped to life and she immediately dropped it into the waste can, standing emotionlessly above it as those words began to burn. All that work and time wasted at the keyboard and she truly didn't care. None of it mattered. "It’s all lies...just a fucking fantasy," she snarled, striking match after match until the can was a mix of paper and orange flame.  She stayed silent for a long time as she watched. "It'll be alright. You'll get out of this," she whispered, though she found it hard to believe a word she told herself.</p><p>Jinny shuddered, hands pressing out suddenly, as if she could warm the cold in her bones with burning fanfic and notes. The brief warmth soon died as the paper crumbled away, but her face was sweating, skin boiling under the clothes that clung with cold greediness to her skin. "Shouldn't have run errands," she chided herself, wincing as the scratch suddenly became a throbbing soreness. Colds always sprung up on her fast. </p><p>She glanced to the bag of cold medicine she had picked up from the convenience store; she knew that being caught in the rain like that would probably give her a dose of the flu or a head cold, her body reacted all too well to the weather. But at the present moment all she wanted to do was sleep. "Just a little bit, then I'll eat and move on," she whispered, shuddering as she walked on wavy legs to the couch, falling onto it gratefully. "A little bit won't hurt," she mumbled, too tired to even attempt removing the garments that clung to her. Pushing a strand of wet hair out of her face, she curled into a ball and fell into a fitful sleep.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Knights in Dented Armor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Paul and Dwayne run into one of the runaways and get a lead on Jinny, but is it too little too late?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They stuck to the shadows, though there weren't many of them around the urgent care building. "I don't know how much help this will get us," Paul sighed, looking at the bright windows with a tense expression. He’d been in a weird mood ever since they’d pulled up, but had refused to say why.</p><p>"Neither do I, but it's best to stick to all of our options. On a night like this, a lot of accidents can happen, lot of situations," Dwayne reasoned and the blond nodded. "At least the rain let up," he added.</p><p>"Yeah. But in the end, she really hasn't got a death wish," he agreed. “She’s probably under cover somewhere. Would she be able to pay for this, though, even if something happened?"</p><p>The dark-haired vampire shrugged a shoulder, arms still draped over the handles of his bike. "She's got balls in her own right. Either someone could bring her in. There’s been rumors of pick pocketing and petty theft going on. We don't know what she arrived with or what means she's got. She could be doing just fine and doing a really good job of keeping under cover."</p><p>Paul nodded, though it was clear on his face that he didn't really believe it. He grew silent again, though this time the pause wasn't quite as casual as they usually were. "You ever wonder why we're putting so much effort into this, anyway?"</p><p>Dwayne cast a sideways glance at his best friend, lip twitching at how tightly Paul was gripping the handlebars of his ride. "It's what David wants, I guess." He'd make him work for it.</p><p>"Yeah, but why?" Paul pressed, his eyes narrowing slightly, the corners of his mouth tensing as he tried to look purposefully casual. Instead it looked as if he were getting ready to pass a kidney stone.</p><p>"Probably because this is new. Nothing like this has ever happened before. She's not some random lunatic. He wants to know if she's a threat or if she could be helpful." Dwayne kept his eyes on the lit-up building, not so much out of duty but because he knew if he took one good look at Paul's face he'd probably start laughing.</p><p>Paul nodded, eyes still trained on the doors as he tried a new line of attack. "What do you think, anyway? I mean she did go nuts and nearly emasculate ya. Plus she started all those rumors."</p><p>Dwayne really fought the grin then, knew for a fact his friend was pressing for something more. It <em>was </em>strange that she seemed to be on his mind lately, but he told himself it was the strangeness of the whole situation and not the brief moment of tonsil hockey that had stunned the hell out of him. "All that talk won't hurt us. She could have said far worse. In the end, things will shift and we'll be back. And it's not like I wanted or could have had kids in the first place," he added, smirking wryly. The other vampire's face turned away from him and he couldn't resist adding, "And the other night more than made up for it. Damn...if only I'd been faster and kept her there," he added, smirking at Paul's scowl.</p><p>It hadn't escaped him that there was always a certain part of his friend that perked up every time she was mentioned, though he wasn't about to bring any attention to it. Far be it from him to do anything that would overshadow his fast and free image, but there was definitely some part of Paul that was curious about the chick who would be so fucking reckless one moment and then so timid the next. Dwayne had to admit it was a fascinating contradiction. If she thought she could slink into the shadows and be forgotten she could get another thought into her smarmy little head. Once their group's attention was caught, it wouldn't be diverted until everything had been seen completely through. <em>If only I knew what that actually meant.</em></p><p>Dwayne's  momentary amusement was interrupted as two figures exited the building. Paul snapped to attention beside him. Dwayne remained relaxed upon realization that neither was the one they were sent to keep an eye out for. The smaller figure was a boy, early teens at most. But the girl was limping slightly, her blond hair and willowy figure made Dwayne frown in consternation. "Stay here," he muttered and slid off his bike. </p><p>At his approach the girl brightened but the boy, apparently having said his good-byes, took off back towards the Boardwalk. Dwayne easily strode up to the teen, scowling as he heard Paul's footsteps behind him. Her face was still bruised when she turned to look at him, though a smile brightened her lips. "It's you!" For his part Paulie kept his mouth shut. He would have known that her injuries were human-caused, and he felt as irritable towards those that would take advantage of a kid or a woman as Dwayne did. They were killers, but they had to eat, after all. They’d never been into abuse for abuse’s sake. Guilt swam through him briefly at the memory of Becky stepping off the cliff, and he forced himself to focus on the living blonde in front of him.</p><p>"I thought I told you to go home," he said without preamble. She flushed and nodded.</p><p>"I don't have a home here. Didn't have a way to..." The girl drew into herself briefly before coming back and continuing. "But it's okay...I can get home now, I'm going to get the bus and-"</p><p>"How'd you get the money for that?" Dwayne asked, suddenly feeling very cold in the stomach. If she had gone back to the street after he had torn that bastard off her...some people were that desperate for an out, but the thought still made him ill.  He never pretended to be a saint, but she was barely out of jail bait range.</p><p>"I went to the video store, met with the others. Mute came in and...I guess she found someone who had a lot on them. Credit cards, checkbook, a cashed paycheck. It was a miracle," she whispered, ducking her head slightly. The two looked at each other pointedly.</p><p>"Is she still back with the others?" Paul asked.</p><p>The girl shrugged, wincing slightly at the brief movement. "She's probably alone. She divided everything up between me, Bridget, Derek, Jax..." she nodded in the direction the boy had went. "Told us to get the hell out of Dodge. She stayed behind, though. Said she had some things to take care of, claimed she had enough on her to be alright." She frowned, as if remembering something. "She didn't look well, either. She’s newer anyway, and the past few weeks have been really rough on her. She tries not to show it, but we can all tell she’s close to breaking. She was soaked from the rain...Jax went back to check on her-"</p><p>Dwayne frowned at the soft curse behind him. "Dude," Paul muttered softly so only the other vampire would hear.</p><p>"And you're going?" Dwayne asked, looking into her eyes intently. </p><p>“<em>We </em>gotta get going," Paul urged and Dwayne fought to keep from snapping at his friend.</p><p>"I'm going," she affirmed, her head raising as a taxi pulled up to the side. "That'll get me to the bus station," she explained, pausing to look up at her protector once more. "Thank you. And..."</p><p>"What is it, sweetheart?" Dwayne asked, gently resting a hand on her shoulder, as if she might crumble apart at physical contact. </p><p>"For fuck's sake, come on!" Paul hissed, not pleased to be so adamantly ignored by his friend.</p><p>"Check in on her. She's so nervous. So scared. Hiding something but I don't know what. None of us do, and she won’t let anyone help her. Look in on her," the girl urged, chewing her lip as she struggled to keep eye contact. </p><p>Dwayne nodded. "Easier done than said."</p><p>She gave that bright smile again. "Thanks." Both vampires watched as she hobbled to the waiting car and slid into the backseat with some effort.</p><p>"Dude, I know you have your knight in dented armor moments, but we have <em>got</em>to get to Max's," Paul snapped as soon as the door was shut.</p><p>Dwayne sighed and threw a look to the blond. "Look, I know you're impatient, but-"</p><p>"No, you don't get it, you didn't give me a chance to tell you! That kid she was with is bad news. A fucking opportunist thief. I saw him get the shit kicked out of him once, I offered help and the next thing I knew everything resembling cash I had on me was gone," he admitted grimly. </p><p>"And he knows she's weak and has leftover cash. Shit!" Dwayne muttered, already headed for the bikes. The motors growled through the night, but a part of his mind was already reaching out to the others, the rest of him trying to ignore Paul's muttering that would have been covered by the bikes for any other ears but his own. </p>
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<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Betrayal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Sometimes you have to trust, and sometimes it comes back to bite you</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A dull thump and a curse slowly tugged Jinny’s mind out of the twisted dreams she’d been having. Her stomach still turned with thoughts of vampires ritually sacrificing bad authors, and she’d been at the front of the line, while those around her smirked in secret agreement that she had had it coming all along. Jinny tried to sit upright but her head felt heavy and her ears were filled with fire. "Who's there?" she hissed, but couldn't obtain any volume, even the whisper made tears come to her eyes. She was shaking, burning up, stomach howling for something and throat shrieking for water. She was prepared for the worst, but it was a small body that came into her field of vision. "Jax?" It took her brain a minute to put the name to the face, but it was definitely the surfer that was crouched before her.</p><p>"Sorry...I...you seemed out of it before."</p><p>Part of her was suspicious, but the rest of her was too tired to care. "How's Lotta?"</p><p>"She's going to be fine. Got her help at urgent care. She's going to the bus station now," he assured her and she relaxed slightly. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You need me to get you anything?" he asked, and she could vaguely make out his face in front of her, his crouching form in the darkness. </p><p>"Don't feel well," she croaked, shivering in her clothes, her face scrunching when he pressed a slim hand on her forehead. </p><p>"Not too bad, you'll be okay," the youth replied with a shrug, glancing around intently. "You want me to get you some medicine or something?"</p><p>"Got some," she breathed, half-heartedly pointing to where she had tossed her bags and residual cash on the floor in her exhaustion. </p><p>"You want me to get a doc or something? You think you'll be okay on your-"</p><p>"No doctors," she hissed, grabbing his sleeve abruptly, though there wasn't much to her grip. "I'll be okay. Sleep it off."</p><p>"Alright...well let me help you open this, then," Jax insisted, plucking up the box of nighttime cold caplets. "You going to be able to swallow these?"</p><p>"They were out of the liquid," she sighed, burying her face into her arm. "Hurry. Wanna sleep. You should go."</p><p>"I will, Mute, I will. I'm not going to leave you high and dry. Okay, now lift your head," he urged, and she felt a thin, spindly arm cup her head while his other palm pressed the caplets into her open, trembling mouth. She gladly accepted the water bottle he followed it with, though it was a hard mouthful to swallow, bigger than what she anticipated. Jinny distantly wondered if her throat was that bad or if he had given her the wrong amount, but it was Jax, he was the closest thing she had to friend or family here. Well, besides the vampires. She shuddered at the thought of what would happen if they found her like this, almost reconsidered telling Jax to get lost. But he had to go back to his life, like she had said before. “You want some pain meds, too? I think you can mix ibuprofen with this. It might get the fever down more.” She tried to think, but the hand was at her mouth, making up her mind for her. It was even more of a struggle to get the second load down, and when he released her all she could do was collapse back onto the couch.</p><p>Her head rolled slightly, the drugs kicking in much sooner than she had thought. "You alright Mute?" Jax’s voice was soft and distant. She nodded slightly before the darkness closed in, fuzzy and comfortable, thick, warped velvet. </p>
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<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Bad Medicine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The boys finally find Jinny, and have to make a decision about what to do with the human.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They left their bikes far enough away that no one would hear them approach the store. It wouldn't take them long to cover ground on foot when they were really trying. The predator nature oozed from every movement: the thrill of the hunt gleaming in David's eyes, lurked in Paul's unbridled energy, infiltrated all of Dwayne's silent observations. Even Marko was more alert, more attentive, ready as they converged on the store that had so mysteriously closed down years ago. There were rumors about Max being bankrupt, having a woman whose husband was intent on coming after him, all sorts of inane bullshit. The only downside was that it hadn't been them to take out the one who had been dragging them down for years, though they could certainly reap the benefits. </p><p>The store was a decent place to conduct business away from the cave on certain occasions. It was protected and charmed for insurance. Any other time the down and out - usually the kids - were welcome to it. None of the pack would deny how hard things could get, and while they weren't new age Robin Hoods, it wasn't much of a sacrifice. When they needed the building, it was easy enough to plant enough discouragement in anyone nearby to free it up for the necessary amount of time.</p><p>Without waiting to be told Marko headed for the back door, Paul to the fire escape, while Dwayne stayed in position behind David at the front door. Without waiting or saying a word, David pressed against the door with just the right amount of weight and influence and it opened easily. One of the perks to being a vampire was never having to let one's eyesight adjust to darkness, so they instantly saw the small figure that dropped to a crouch in mid-step.</p><p>"Must not have thought the front door worked," David remarked as he strode directly to the boy, coat flaring out behind him. Without having to take so much a glance around he went to the empty shelves the kid hid behind, easily plucking him up when he tried to run.  "Going somewhere?" David growled, smirking at the terrified but defiant expression on the surfer wannabe's face.</p><p>"Fuck you, man," he snapped, wriggling weakly.</p><p>"Tough one," Marko observed, sliding into the main room behind the boy. Jax tried to turn to look behind him but David was having none of it, shaking the youth to get him to keep his focus on his eyes alone.</p><p>"No. He's a little shit is what he is. Don't I give you enough? Let you hide out here, give you a handout when I can? You have to screw over someone that tried to help you while you're at it?"</p><p>"I don't know what you're talking about!" he gasped, wincing as David shook him by the collar and silently watched as a stack of bills rained onto the floor.</p><p>"He’s a fucking magician, too," Dwayne muttered, bending to pluck up the money. "So what's this, Houdini?"</p><p>"It's Monopoly money," Marko laughed, shaking his head as he kept his eyes trained on the thief dangling from David's grip. </p><p>"That's mine, she gave that to me!" Jax snapped, a hand wildly reaching for the crumpled bills that Dwayne easily held up out of reach. </p><p>"Would've thought you'd be a better liar, kid," David sighed before he dropped Jax to the floor, stepping forward so he loomed over the shaking boy. "Get out of town. I don't want to see you anywhere near Santa Carla. If I do, we won't be so forgiving." He nodded silently to Dwayne who opened his fist so the bills fluttered onto Jax's quickly moving chest. Marko frowned but knew better than to question David's mind once it was made up. "Take it. Get lost," David snapped, blue eyes boring a hole into the kid's dark ones. It was as if it took a moment for Jax to remember that he could move, and when he did he skittered across the floor, pushing himself to his feet and quickly made his exit, only getting his huffy pride back the further he got from the vampires.</p><p>He shook his head in quiet disgust. "We warned him. He's young, but if he comes back..." David let the threat hang.</p><p>"Understood. But why give him that cash?" Marko asked.</p><p>"She won't be needing it now that we have her. I don't want her skipping off under our nose again." David replied. </p><p>"We'll keep an eye out, but I doubt he'll come back. Not even because of fear. He knows we'll be watching so there's no real opportunity here," Dwayne agreed</p><p>David frowned and cocked his head. "You think she left? I'd have thought she'd be louder when we showed up on her doorstep."</p><p>"It's Paulie, maybe she swooned away at his entrance," Marko laughed, his smile fading at the third vampire's brooding expression. "What? You didn't see the look on her face the first time she came crashing in on us? She has such a thing for him."</p><p>"I didn't notice," Dwayne muttered with a curt shrug.</p><p>"<em>You </em>didn't notice?!" Marko repeated.</p><p>"I was too busy trying to get feeling to come back to my dick, alright?" Dwayne snapped as he pushed to the stairs. </p><p>David watched the exchange, only the faintest of smiles showing. "Maybe you're right, Marko," he agreed. "She's probably sucking him off. Hard to make a noise with something in her mouth." He carefully watched as Dwayne stiffened but said nothing.</p><p>"If that were the case we'd definitely be hearing Paul's big mouth," Marko shot back.</p><p>"Do you<em>have</em>to talk like that? We're wasting time," Dwayne interrupted with a low growl.</p><p>David shrugged, smiling in satisfaction. "Just having a laugh-"</p><p>"David!!" They froze and took half a heartbeat to look at each other before tearing up the stairs. The voice had been Paul's yet was not Paul's. Their friend's voice was always filled with laughter and bravado. This voice was shaky, almost vulnerable, and laced with cold fear. Without a doubt something had to be very wrong for his voice to morph into that kind of sound. They pushed towards the upstairs room that once had been used for storage and office work, now a secret space for runaways and sundry affairs. </p><p>Marko entered first and stopped, dumbfounded at the two figures in the dark interior of the room. The girl was sprawled over the couch, immobile, clothes and hair drenched and stuck against skin slick with rain. He frowned and shot a look to the others behind him, not quite sure what to say. It was obvious by the feel in the air, the odd things he felt when he attempted to press into her mind that something was very, very wrong. But what made it surreal was their blood brother, who was normally a loveable kind of callous about the human condition. He stood over her, paler than Marko had ever seen him, a haunted, terrified look in his eyes, every muscle tensed and shaking.</p><p>"Paulie?" Marko asked, drawn in and very uneasy all at once. </p><p>"She won't wake up," he whispered and for a moment Marko was certain his friend was going to be ill. He wasn't thinking, his mouth worked without his brain, compelled to dispel the terrible tension with some sort of humor. But that was Paul's forte, not his.</p><p>"Well there you go, then. Situation handled." He nearly fell backwards down the stairs as Paul's head shot up, his face fully transformed and furious, the snarl loud in the quiet room. He could hear the cursing distantly from the others, but was only really aware of those blazing eyes coming at him and then the talons at his throat.</p><p>"That's not funny! You fucking take that back!" the other blond hissed. Marko’s fangs slid down in self-defense and he struggled to hold himself back. </p><p>"Dude, it was a joke-"</p><p>"Why don't you both cool it so we can see what's going on?!" David interjected. "Marko, apologize." His voice was steel, a tone Marko wasn't used to having directed at him. </p><p>"Sorry Paulie," he managed.</p><p>"Now let him go. He didn't mean anything by it," David went on, slowly getting a hand on Paul's shoulder. The other vampire didn't make a move, eyes still crimson fury as a low growl rumbled from his throat. "Paulie," he added, his oddly gentle tone carrying a hint of warning. Abruptly Marko was released and left swaying on his feet to look at Dwayne in total confusion. Dwayne shook his head and shrugged, Marko's bewilderment reflected on his face.</p><p>"Now let's see what's up," David went on, steering Paul back to the prone form on the bed.  Paul's features slowly returned to normal as David knelt beside the couch and took one of her limp hands. "Pulse feels alright. She's still alive," he added, eyes locked with the other blond as if he were a potentially dangerous animal. "She's warm, though," he added, his frown increasing as he put his hand to his mouth, quickly tugging the leather glove off with his teeth. David's bare hand went to her forehead, her cheek, and he cursed. "Burning up." He looked up at the slightly strangled noise that came from his packmate. "Calm down, it's probably a cold. If we could figure out-" David paused and glanced down as his knee brushed a plastic bag. Upon inspection it proved to be from a pharmacy. "So she took something." He pulled out an empty box, eyes able to read the fine print even in the dark. "Night-time crap. See? No big deal," he assured Paul, though as the others watched they could tell his eyes were not as self-assured as they should have been. "Marko, Dwayne...see if you can find the packaging...see how many she took. It's not doing its job if she's that hot."</p><p>"Sure thing," Marko agreed, knowing better than to ask what the hell was going on. </p><p>"David," Dwayne called, holding up the bubbled interior packaging. </p><p>"Great, how many?"</p><p>"All of them," he whispered.</p><p>"<em>All </em>of them?!" the leader echoed.</p><p>“There’s a half-empty bottle of Advil here, too,” Dwayne murmured. “Shit.”</p><p> "She's not that stupid. Her self-preservation instinct is too high or else she wouldn't be running so hard from us...calm down!" he snapped as Paul started to pace.</p><p>"The kid," Dwayne looked up sharply. "How else would he get out under her nose? Probably offered her help. If she was feeling like shit she'd be pretty out of it, it wouldn't take too long for all of that to take effect, especially if she hasn't eaten much lately-"</p><p>"I'll fucking kill him!" Paul snarled as the revelation sank in and he was suddenly rushing for the stairs. "His blood is mine!" David quickly locked his arm round the other's waist, wincing at the strain of impact.</p><p>"He's gone. We told him to leave town," David admitted, gritting his teeth at the shriek of frustration.</p><p>"You let that asshole go?!"</p><p>"I didn't know! He comes back, he's yours, okay? You need to stay calm, Paul. She must not have taken them <em>that </em>long ago," he added, jaw tensing as if he had come across a particularly unfavorable thought. "Get her on her knees," he ordered, quickly releasing the other vampire and moving to the couch. Paul immediately blocked his way.</p><p>"You can't move her!"</p><p>"She has to be sitting up at least if you don't want her to choke," David told him firmly, the strain of Paul's bizarre reaction as well as the situation beginning to show in his voice.</p><p>Dwayne maneuvered to his friend, carefully took his arm and tugged him to the side. "Come on, he won't hurt her. It'll be alright. She’ll be alright, Paul." He had no idea what was going on in his friend’s head. It was rare that he couldn’t read his best friend, and it added to the building tension in the room.</p><p>"Marko, sit her up and get me that old wastebasket if it's still around." Without a word Marko collected the item from where it had been sitting by the couch.</p><p>"Don't know what the hell those kids were smoking over this thing. It looks like it's become the communal ash tray," Marko muttered, shaking his head as he pulled the young woman up to a sitting position.</p><p>David watched but shook his head. "No. She has to be kneeling or else she could pitch backwards and choke." Without another word he tugged her off the old piece of furniture and made a face as he and Marko got her on her knees. David cast a quick glance to Paul before he knelt behind her, one arm braced around her waist to keep her upright. Even then she bent limply over his arm and he cursed as he pulled her head upright. "Hold it in front of her and keep a tight grip," he added, nodding to the plastic waste can, smirking as Marko's eyes widened when David's intentions finally sunk in. </p><p>"You aren't..."</p><p>"Shut up, you have the easy part," he snapped, glancing up to check on the others. Paul had one hand on Dwayne's shoulder and looked like he would explode at any second despite the calm chatter his friend was trying to use.          </p><p>“She'll be fine, Paul. He'll get that shit out of her stomach and we'll figure out what's going on," Dwayne insisted, his face drawn and intent on using any trick he could to sedate the manic vampire. Mojo rarely worked on another vampire and Paul was pretty far gone for what minimal effect it may have to take hold.</p><p>"Alright," David sighed, bracing himself as his bare hand cupped the lower part of her face, fingers carefully pressing her jaw open. The girl twitched slightly but didn't fight him. "She must be completely out of it," he muttered, shaking his head. He adjusted his grip before sinking two fingers into her mouth, grimacing at the fire that burned against the thin skin of her tongue. Normally the others would be ready with a barrage of laughter and raunchy commentary but there was only a tense silence as they watched on. David bit his lip against the weird sensations he swiftly dove his fingers deeper, fumbling as they hooked and felt for her gag reflex. "She so fucking owes me," he growled, tensing when she bucked and spasmed, bending over the waste can. "Here we go. Better hang on tight, Marko," he warned. The other vampire's face clearly showed his distaste at the retching noises and his hand began to waver. </p><p>"I swear to God, you drop that thing I'll stake you myself," David warned, blue eyes sharp as he glared at the younger member. "I'll gladly trade you places," he added, growling when her arms suddenly snapped up to reach blindly for her throat.  "No you don't...come on, give it up," he urged, fingers pressing against their goal. She shook, body rippling within the confines of his grip before she suddenly pistoned forward, this time successfully spilling her stomach contents. </p><p>"Oh shit," Marko groaned, closing his eyes and turning his face.</p><p>"You kill people every day and a little puke bugs you?" David shot back, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>"Blood is blood, you never know what's going to be <em>in</em>a person's stomach!" Marko countered.</p><p>"See man? It'll be okay," Dwayne was murmuring to Paul, who mutely shook his head. </p><p>"Once more for luck," David murmured to the body he was still holding up, swiping his fingers deep. His own body jerked up and tensed, pain flaring over his face when her mouth snapped shut on his hand. "Fucking hell!" he growled, struggling to hang onto her while rescuing his arm from her teeth. </p><p>"See, there's hope if she can fight back," Dwayne added. Paul only shrugged.</p><p>"Yeah, great," David grunted before finally prying her mouth off his hand, easily pushing her back onto the couch. He shook his head as he watched her, still passed out and oblivious. "Damn...must have had a low tolerance to that shit to be so far gone. How'd we do?"</p><p>"You got most of them back...the rest probably dissolved. Mostly empty stomach, there's not much else here," Marko admitted, face scrunched up as he briefly examined the contents before moving to chuck them out one of the windows. David frowned and rubbed his hand against his pant leg. </p><p>"She felt awfully swollen," he sighed, obviously weighing her worth against other things before his eyes landed hard on her unconscious form. "You just have to have your damn pride, don't you?" he muttered. "You just have to make things difficult. If we could trust you we'd just take you, but no..." He grit his teeth in thought. "We have to get a doctor."</p><p>"No fucking way! Doctors take forever, they want to test everything these days, no fucking doctors!" Paul protested, clawing at Dwayne's hand as the dark-haired vampire struggled to still him. </p><p>"Paulie, what else can we do?" David reasoned softly. "I know she's pissed and having a rough time, but we don't know whose side she's on or what she can do. I'm not going to give her blood or let her into the cave if I don't know if we can trust her," he reasoned. </p><p>Paul had pried himself away from Dwayne and was by the couch's side. "Fine, do what you want. Go ahead and fucking kill her."</p><p>David sighed heavily, his fingertips circling his temples. "Marko, go get some food she can get down with a raw throat. Liquids, too. Change of clothes, something she can sleep on if you can swing it, some alcohol-"</p><p>"Six or twelve pack?"</p><p>Rubbing alcohol, Einstein; have to get that fever down. My guess is it's strep.”</p><p>They turned at a muffled cursing and Marko shook his head as Paul hunched over the couch, head in his hand at the diagnosis. "Right," he said slowly, giving the others an uneasy look, glad to get out of the war zone. "I'm on it." He quickly took off down the stairs. </p><p>"Now Paul - Paul don't!" David hissed, eyes narrowed as the other sheepishly tugged the sleeve of the tux coat back over the wrist he'd been exposing. Any softness that had been in David's face hardened to marble. "Paul," he warned. "Do that and I swear you won't like what happens next." He relaxed only a millimeter when the hunched form backed away slightly. "She'll be alright. You caught her fast enough, this probably just set in. She'll be fine and it won't get any worse. You can even pick the doctor, how's that?"</p><p>Paul glowered, shaking his head but he had lost some of his fierce resolve. </p><p>"There has to be a better way," he argued.</p><p>"Paul, not all doctors are quacks. Choose whoever you want, but hurry. She'll only get worse if you waste time." David waited, ready to rush him if he tried the other method again. </p><p>"Alright," he sighed, finally relenting as he headed for the stairs. </p><p>"Good. Work fast and try to calm down," David called after him, waiting until he was out of the room to sit on the arm of the couch, rubbing his forehead. "Goddamn."</p><p>"What the hell's wrong with him?!" Dwayne asked, unable to keep it in any longer. </p><p>"Paul doesn't do well with illness," David sighed, shaking his head. "When he was a kid...remember that he didn't exactly grow up in the 'burbs," he added, glancing at his packmate from the corner of his eye. "His little brother got strep as a toddler or something...really young...the doctors they had access to kept fucking around, taking their time, wanted to make sure it wasn't just a random kid illness, kept saying he was find, kids bounced back easy. It turned into rheumatic fever and killed him," he added softly. </p><p>"Shit," Dwayne murmured.</p><p>"Yeah," David agreed, pulling out a cigarette and lighting up. "By the time they got the kid into hospital it was too late. The family was visiting and Paulie had the wonderful childhood experience of watching his little brother die in front of him."</p><p>"He never told me that," Dwayne sighed, brows knitting together. “Why the hell wouldn’t he mention something like that to me?”</p><p>"Don't be offended, he doesn't talk about it," David assured him, blowing smoke towards the ceiling, somewhat away from the unconscious figure. "It's part of why he was eager to join up. It's something he never forgot. He doesn't have issue with killing or seeing prey die, but disease really freaks him out."</p><p>Dwayne nodded, slowly filtering through his thoughts. "So what are we going to do with her anyway?" He expected David to pause at that, but he answered as if he had expected the question.</p><p>"Depends. Once she gets well the ball's kind of in her court. Will she keep pushing it, come quietly, or make a run for it?"</p><p>"To her credit it was only stupid gossip-"</p><p>"She could get bolder next time. Or not. She may actually have powers. Or not. She's scared and she's pissed...but she's also really intrigued," David added, sliding a look to Dwayne's sprawled position on the floor.</p><p>"So if she runs..."</p><p>"We do our best to keep her here or force a confrontation. We need to have it out and figure out how to move forward. At least then we know," he said tightly. "I hate going through all this for a wild card, but if she can influence things, I don't want to fuck with that. We could use her."</p><p>"And if it's a total bluff?"</p><p>David shrugged. "Doesn't really matter. She still knows what we are, has some weird basic understanding. Even if most of what's in her head is probably wrong or slanted she's still not someone to leave wandering around."</p><p>"So if she keeps fighting us-"</p><p>"She has to go, end of story. We can't have a threat running loose, especially if she's determined to fight us," he sighed. "She's not much of one, true enough, but we don't know what she has up her sleeve or what she could do. I don't think she'll go that way, personally, but I don't know. This changes things."</p><p>Dwayne nodded, frown not as deep. "So say she calms down, accepts things. What if she just packs up and goes home?"</p><p>"If that was a possibility do you think she'd still be here?" David asked, smirking round his nicotine fix. "She's stuck here. She’s really trying to keep it quiet, too. I'll hand it to her, she's resourceful."</p><p>"Yeah...so then what the hell do we <em>do</em>with her?"</p><p>David leisurely exhaled and ground the butt out under his foot, fingers idly picking at the tip of his tongue for bitter remnants of his vice. "We'll cover that when we get there. Why, what d'ya wanna do with her?" he asked, grinning when his packmate blinked in surprise. "You're not the only one that has a penchant for observation," he went on dryly. "Quite a situation on the whole."</p><p>Dwayne sat through the commentary, face purposefully neutral. "Just a fascination, man. Like you said, we’ve never seen anything like her. Just need to get it out of my system. Weird sexual intrigue at most."</p><p>"That's right, because any woman that tries to damage my goods must be a fantastic lay," David shot back, already on his feet by the time Marko had reached the top of the stairs. </p><p>"Got what I could," he grunted as he set a few bags on the floor. "What? Don't stop your conversation on my account," he said, clearly entertained by what his keen hearing had caught.</p><p>"It's nothing," David replied after sharing a look with Dwayne. He quickly scanned the contents and nodded in approval. "Good work, Marko. Now all we need is for..." he trailed off, eyes focused on the girl as she turned weakly, the only real movement she had made since he'd set her back on the couch. His ears were further away and he shook his head. "This is not going to be a fun night," he sighed. "Make sure you keep an eye on Paul. He's bound to be edgy. And she does <em>not</em>get blood," he added pointedly as he crossed to the door.</p><p>"Sure thing," Marko said, glancing in quiet confusion to Dwayne.</p><p>"Later," was all he'd reply, frowning at the distant sounds of struggle coming up the stairs.</p><p>Heartbeats later a middle-aged man in rumpled striped pajamas tumbled to the floor, a briefcase in one clenched fist. Paul stepped over him, lips pursed and clearly displeased. "Found a doc."</p><p>"Good work." David turned to the sputtering man who was adjusting his glasses and smoothing his thinning hair. "What's up doc?" he asked, smirking at the laughter from the others and how indignant it made the guy. </p><p>"What's the meaning of this? This is kidnaping, you can't do this! Damn kids!"</p><p>"We're in need of some help, not your mouth," David cut in. "Marko's sister. You think you can help her?"</p><p>The doctor slowly stood, eyes narrowed. "I don't know why I should, you could have taken her to the emergency room-"</p><p>"No fucking way, that's why I hate your kind! You're all excuses, all maybe's, all wait and see's and let's try this instead's. You never fucking do anything!" Paul snapped, grabbing the startled man up by the collar, dragging him to the couch. "Fix her!" he snarled, eyes tinged pink.</p><p>The doctor shuddered as he was released, but slowly assessed the situation. His face  clearly showed his suspicion on why there was one girl among four boys of their age and as he talked his hand reached for his briefcase. "Well...there is always the summer flu, viruses go around all the time-"</p><p>"You're supposed to be a specialist and you think it's the damn flu?!" Paul stammered, the tips of his fangs sliding into view, out of sight from the clueless doctor.</p><p>"Paul, calm down," David said softly. "We know it's late and out of the ordinary, but we'd appreciate your compassionate diagnosis," he went on, reaching to tug the meaty hand out of the briefcase, shaking his head at the cell phone it was holding. "Always the same," he sighed, slowly compressing his grip around the hand and phone until casing, battery, and bone crumpled into a tangled mess with a sickening series of pops. The guy was too startled to scream at first and only stared at the thing on the end of his arm, eyes glazed in shock before that same horrified look turned to David. When the throb of pain and understanding began to surge through the doctor he filled his lungs to let loose his terror. David's hand clamped over the older man's mouth, preventing the sound. "You'll find it's easier to play along, Doc. Now how bout you fix our friend here and we won't have any hard feelings?" David's voice was cool with an undercurrent of steel, his eyes faintly beginning to show they're fire. </p><p>"A-alright. If you could hand me my bag-"</p><p>"How bout we get things for you?" Dwayne countered, already opening the brief case wide.</p><p>"Yes, of course," the mortal stammered, a faint sheen of sweat gleaming over his face and in the v-neck of his pajama top. "Thermometer," he whispered, still looking at his crumpled fingers in muted horror, as if he was attempting to see if he had the knowledge to fix it. </p><p>"Here," Dwayne muttered as he handed the doc the item, watching with the others as the pudgy man bent over the prone figure, clumsily sliding it into her ear. </p><p>"Dude if you bust her eardrum..." Paul growled.</p><p>"Let him work. He'll behave himself," David cut in. After a few tense moments the thermometer beeped its finale. </p><p>"One hundred four," the guy murmured, prompting hisses and muted curses. "I need my light, and her mouth open," he said tightly, face beginning to twitch from taking the raw blossoms of pain flooding his arm. Marko stepped up beside him with the light, gingerly holding her head for him as he looked in each ear and then down her throat.</p><p>"Obviously strep, don't even need a test," he concluded. "I'll write a prescription..." He paused, lips tight, face suddenly showing some new horror.</p><p>"Damn. You broke his writing hand, David," Dwayne sighed.</p><p>"Of course," the leader sighed. "She needs the medicine fast," he told the doctor, who nodded distantly.</p><p>"Well of course she does! Penicillin would be enough if she’s not allergic, otherwise amoxicillin maybe...twice daily, but I have to write-" He stopped dead as Dwayne plucked out the prescription pad from the briefcase, pen at the ready. </p><p>"Shoot, doc, I can write crappy with the best of 'em," he drawled, raising an eyebrow at the older man's hesitant face. </p><p>"That's not legal-"</p><p>"Would you like the working use of your good hand, doc?" David asked, tilting his head and stepping forward. He smirked in satisfaction as the guy began rattling off the details, right down to how he signed his name. </p><p>"Thank you, you've been most cooperative," David nearly purred, glancing around the room. "Who feels like showing this good man home and paying him his fee?"</p><p>Paul grimaced. "Till I know she's gonna be fine, no way. 'Sides, I hate the taste of doctors, I'd rather eat dirt." He smirked at the man's alarmed face but the expression lacked Paul's usual glee.</p><p>"Don't pay attention to him, he's just tense. Come on, let's get you home," Marko intervened, swiftly packing up the briefcase and guiding him to the door. "You want me to hit up a pharmacist on the way back?"</p><p>"Nah, you'd scare the shit out of them, coming in after giving the doc his due. I'll deal with it," David replied easily, plucking up the slip of paper from Dwayne's fingertips. </p><p>"Wait, what-" the doctor sputtered, but Marko already had him stumbling down the stairs. </p><p>"I have a job for both of you," David went on as he followed suit and headed for the door, giving Marko ample time to get the doc to somewhere secluded so he could receive his "payment."  "If you can stay calm," he added to Paul, who was pacing again.</p><p>"What is it?" Dwayne asked, slightly uneasy at the bemused expression on David's face.</p><p>"Until I can get back with this," he explained, tapping the pink paper in his hand, "you need to keep her cool. Turn on the water in the bathroom, use the alcohol, and get her temperature down. She probably could do with a shower anyway. Marko got her some clothes, there's some sheets in there, you can turn on the water for Max's personal bathroom up here, make her comfortable," he went on, lip twitching at the startled looks that the others were trying too hard to cover up. "Come on, there's two of you and one of her, what's the problem? You can keep each other from being indecent," he added, smirking. "We'll feed her when I get back...no blood," he added sternly before slipping out the door.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Dr Feelgood</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Paul and Dwayne deal with their charge, and try to figure out why she bothers them so much.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The two vampires looked at each other before they lowered their eyes back to the sleeping girl. "You go turn on the shower, I'll get her ready," Paul finally said, everything about him casual except for the tension in his voice. </p><p>The surge of protectiveness startled Dwayne, but he couldn’t beat it down. "Like hell, the second I leave the room you'd have both hands down her pants.” He cursed when Paul turned, fangs sliding down.</p><p>"Not funny. You know as well as I do that there's a fucking time for that. And how do I know that the second I leave the room you won't break her in two for nearly crushing your grapes?"</p><p>The dark-haired vampire rolled his eyes. "Give me a little credit. David wants to keep her around, then I'll stick to that plan."</p><p>Paul rolled his eyes and took a step forward into his friend's personal space. "So it's all about the plan, huh? You're a fucking good Samaritan to people like that now? Admit it, you just want me to turn my back so you can see her naked.."</p><p>Dwayne blanched and felt a headache coming on. "I can honestly say I don't think about her naked!" Though now that the thought had been implanted, it was like trying to not think about pink elephants.</p><p>"Well why not, I think about her naked-"       </p><p>"You think about everyone without a dick that way!" </p><p>They both snapped their gaze down when the girl growled then broke into a cough. "God, shuddup," she mumbled, both arms over her head.          </p><p>"Look, we're not helping her by fighting," Dwayne sighed, slowly pulling a knife from his back pocket. "We'll do it together, keep each other in check, okay?" </p><p>Paul nodded tightly. "Fine. Just..." He broke off and looked towards the wall, shuddering. Dwayne had never seen him look so vulnerable, so almost-human. It was terrifying and heart-wrenching.         </p><p>"Paul. We'll keep her safe. Nothing's going to happen to her, okay? After she gets better she'll hold the cards, but while we've got the deck nothing's going to hurt her. I won't be trying for revenge, alright? She'll pull through," Dwayne promised, rubbing his friend's shoulder.  "But I need you to help me out, okay bro?"</p><p>Paul nodded and knelt by the arm of the couch near her head. "I'll move her, you cut off her clothes. I shouldn't have a blade right now, I don't wanna slip."  </p><p>Dwayne nodded and opened the knife. "Alright. If she wakes up you're going to have to calm her, though she's pretty out of it." Paul slid his hands under her shoulders, angling her as Dwayne slowly unzipped the wind breaker she wore before slicing through her shirt. "Isn't dressed nearly warm enough," he muttered against the ripping of material. </p><p>Paul grunted and worked to remove the fabric segments off of her until her upper body was bare except for rainwater, sweat, and her bra. Dwayne cast his eyes up to his friend's as the blade of the knife slid under the front segment of the undergarment. His wrist twisted quickly, sending the sharp metal through the fabric. She shuddered, twitched but he removed the knife in time. </p><p>Paul shook his head as he adjusted her back on the pillow. Strangely his eyes didn't go right to her chest. She seemed so much less of the girl that had come out of nowhere like a rabid dog on that night that felt like eons ago. She wasn't emaciated, but she didn't look as healthy as she should have. "She's fucking small."</p><p>"She has a big attitude," Dwayne chuckled. He glanced up at what was exposed, but under the circumstances he was more concerned about the flush that covered all of her, the layer of dust and grime that shouldn't have covered any woman's body. And she was slight but definitely of age, probably close to how old they’d been when they’d been turned, if not a little older. Her face seemed younger than what she obviously was, though the vulnerability in her slumber didn't help her case, either. Paul was idly finger-combing her matted hair, shaking his head. "Ribs showing a little too much for my tastes," Dwayne murmured, the back of one finger ghosting over the skin there.</p><p>Paul sighed. "I don't know why I care. I shouldn't. By all rights we should kill her and dispose of the threat. Or I should enjoy thinking of seeing what I could get from this, but I can’t get her out of my head and I actually fucking care. There's nothing even special about her! She's a damn loudmouth, a trouble maker. She threatened us, worked against us."</p><p>Dwayne nodded. "She’s cute, but not some kind of model, either," he admitted as he threw off her shoes and socks before he popped the button to her fly. "Maybe it's a throwback to the old days, before we were turned. She's vulnerable, means well, and she's interesting," he admitted.</p><p>Paul looked up quickly, smiling slightly. "Yeah, maybe that's it. She’s not after just one thing so not just a good meal...she's a challenge. Not just that, she's...I dunno, she’s fascinating," he agreed, smile suddenly draining from his face when his packmate drew the wet jeans down her legs. "What the fuck?”</p><p>Dwayne looked up, his brow creasing as he spotted what had gotten his friend riled up "Looks like she ripped herself open...barbed wire, maybe," he decided, fingertip lightly stroking the discolored skin next to the irregularly-healed gash. "I'm surprised she can walk, it doesn't look shallow."</p><p>"Infected?" Paul whispered.</p><p>"Not sure. It’s not as swollen as it could be, but it doesn't look good," Dwayne agreed. "I guess we should wait for David. We'll have to get another doctor and go through the whole fucking thing again, unless the antibiotics will take care of it, too. I have no idea," he muttered, shaking his head. He slid his eyes back up to Paul who was already looking at him, that same grim, irritated emotion on his face that Dwayne also felt.</p><p>"We could just not mention it," Paul murmured.</p><p>"He'd find out," Dwayne sighed. "I don't like the waiting, either, but he has a point-"</p><p>"He said not to feed her blood. He wants to keep her beholden to us and that means a slow recovery," Paul reasoned. "We don't have to heal <em>all </em>of her. We can just the leg. He doesn't know about it."</p><p><em>This is a bad, bad idea. If D finds out, there’ll be hell to pay. </em>Dwayne stared down at the girl before silently considered his knife for a few long moments. Mind made up, he drew the sharp end over his palm. The slitting of skin and the bubbling of crimson fluid didn't bother him anymore, didn't cause any real pain. "You, too," he instructed.  If I'm going to put my ass on the line, you're sure as hell doing it with me." </p><p>"Right there with ya, bro," Paul agreed, grabbed the blade and opened his own palm. Without a word the two vampires held the wounds over the sickly-looking skin of her thigh, watching as the blood dripped into the wound and onto the enflamed area. It was better stuff than any drug, healing the wound in a matter of minutes. "Not even a hint of a scar. David'll never know. Mum's the word," Paul muttered, closing his own wound.</p><p>"Exactly," Dwayne agreed, licking his palm shut. "Now we'd better hurry up.  He’ll be pissed if he thinks we're just fucking around," he murmured. "We're never going to get her into the shower without killing one of us," he admitted, tapping the end of the blade against his lower lip.</p><p>"We could do it by hand. Cloths or paper towels or something," Paul suggested, digging in the shopping bags for the soap, tossing dry cloths to his packmate. Dwayne nodded and headed towards the bathroom. The blond pulled out the bottle of alcohol, assessing the prone figure on the couch when his foot knocked the backpack she’d abandoned on the floor. "What the..." he muttered, bending to pick up the sack and dig through it.</p><p>"What is it?" Dwayne asked over the rattle of neglected pipes. "Shit this is cold," he grumbled over the splashing.</p><p>"Not a lot, mostly bare essentials. Small notebook...can't make out much; the rain got it good. Looks like random notes, observations, descriptions..not a story or anything."</p><p>"Probably clinging to some shred of what she used to be. It's hard to change completely. We're vampires but we're still pretty much the same people we always were," Dwayne replied as he came back into the room.</p><p>“Old habits die hard,” Paul chuckled, tapping the inner cover of the notebook. “Looks like her name’s Jinny.”</p><p>Dwayne raised an eyebrow, looked over the girl, tried the name on for size in his mind. “It suits her. I like it.  What's the bottle?" he asked, nodding to the small travel-sized tube in Paul's hand.</p><p>Paul shrugged and unscrewed the top, sniffing. "Never would have pegged her for being a flowery chick. Soap or something, mostly water now. Rationing?"</p><p>Dwayne nodded. "Probably. Last little shred of vanity, or even dignity. It's hard to shoplift round Santa Carla, especially if she still has her moral compass left. Everyone's always watching."</p><p>"Yeah, we've given em reason to," Paul admitted,  screwing the lid back onto the bottle. "Maybe she figured it would be easier to just survive until it was really necessary..."</p><p>"That's sure as hell no way to live," Dwayne agreed.</p><p>"Keep it?" Paul asked, lifting the tube.</p><p>"Yeah, if she tries to run we may be able to scent her from it. The book, too. It may be hard to read, but David'll want the insight. Anything else?"</p><p>"Not that I can see. She travels light. You ready?" Paul asked, nodding to the wet rags Dwayne carried.</p><p>"Yeah. Let's just get this over with," he sighed, pulling out the knife once more, lips tugging slightly. "Shit, I never thought I'd be saying that under circumstances like this."</p><p>"No kidding," Paul agreed, watching as the thin metal easily slipped under the waistband of her panties. The unconscious girl twitched at the sudden, cold contact, her middle twisting slightly.</p><p>"Hold her, I don't want to cut her. It wouldn't be a good thing to have her wake up bleeding with us standing over her," Dwayne warned. Paul nodded and gripped her shoulders, knowing full well that both of them would be that much more prone to temptation once a drop of that crimson fluid hit the air. With a quick movement the knife slit through the worn fabric before quickly repeating the gesture on the other side of her waist. Dwayne held the knife between his teeth, lifted her hips with one hand while he slid the fabric away with the other. It was a gesture he had performed countless times, though never under such circumstances.</p><p>He put the knife away and hoped that Paul believed he was really looking at the cloths he started fussing with. Slowly, he raised his eyes to his friend's. Paul swallowed slowly before grabbing the bottle of alcohol and soaking a dry cloth. "Let's just get this over with," he whispered before pressing it to her smoldering forehead.</p><p> </p><p>********</p><p>They both looked up when David entered silently, Marko at his heels. "Everything okay, boys?" he asked, the different meanings of that question countless in their intentions and innuendoes. </p><p>"She's clean and changed. You have the drugs?" Dwayne asked, shrugging towards the clean figure tucked into the pulled-out sofa bed. </p><p>David nodded and pulled out a thin brown pharmacy bottle. "Gotta love the all-night places, though it takes some of the fun out of things. Marko, you go warm some of that food up, I hit the fuse box for the kitchenette on the way up. Not too much, we don't want anything coming up, but she has to have something in her stomach for this to work," he added, smirking at Marko’s slightly queasy expression. "We'll get her fed and the first dose down...and then it's a question of what happens next," he said, tilting his head as he looked to the others.</p><p>"Yeah, how are we going to work this?" Marko asked. "We can't exactly keep tabs on her all the time."</p><p>"We can put her under using influence," David explained, shrugging like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But I want one of us here to watch her, just in case. As she heals she'll put up more of a fight. I don't want to lose her before we figure out what's going on. So, we can each take a watch...two of us per night? It's not going to take her forever to heal, especially with forced slumber," he added. "I know it sucks, but-"</p><p>"Look, I'll do it," Paul sighed. Dwayne blinked. His friend was trying to sound put-upon, but he couldn't hide his anticipation. His face was just too damn eager, though whether it was because of the shared knowledge of what they had done to her leg or for other reasons, he couldn't be sure.</p><p>"You want to take all that on, Paulie?" David asked, raising an eyebrow. "It may not be the best thing for you, considering."</p><p>"Look, I know what she needs, okay? We worked this hard to get her, to make her better, I'm not going to compromise that, alright?" he snapped, arms crossed tightly over his chest. </p><p>David raised an eyebrow, leaned low over the unconscious body, eyes traveling over her as if he was searching for some hideous thing that had happened in his absence. "She seems alright..."</p><p>Paul made a face. "I'm not going to do anything, is that what you think!?"</p><p>“Calm down, Paul. I just want to make sure she'll heal well enough to tell us what we need to know," David insisted. Paul's eyes narrowed and Dwayne fought the sigh. Knowing his friend he had cooked up all sorts of scenarios of torture that would result upon her awakening, when it was the furthest from the truth. </p><p>"I'll trade off shifts with him. That way you and Marko can keep an eye out for any other activity," Dwayne found himself offering. <em>What the hell am I even doing? Being cooped up is no way to spend a night, never mind at least a week. </em>"We got her this far, I think we can handle it. We'll keep each other in check," he reasoned.</p><p>David raised a brow. “You sure? It’s no fun being cooped up. It’s gonna take time, she doesn’t heal like we do.”</p><p>“You can come tag team in so we can feed, but we can handle it, D. We’ve got this,” Dwayne insisted, giving Paul a look out of the corner of his eye. The blond nodded vehemently and Marko and David shared a skeptical look.</p><p>“Alright. We’ll try it. This should be interesting, at the very least,” David sighed, his face clearly showing that he wondered just what the hell they’d all gotten themselves into.</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Nobody's Love Slave</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Paul deals with guard duty and comes to some horrific realizations. </p><p>or, welcome to my terrible sense of humor :)</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Paul settled down onto the pull-out sofa bed and tugged the covers up around the unconscious woman out of habit. It wasn't a particularly entertaining way to pass part of an evening now that she was out of the woods, but he wasn't about to go back on his shift. He knew what happened the moment the doctors assumed someone was safe and turned their backs. Knew all too well. </p><p> </p><p>He was bored, though, and he couldn’t help but feel like he was missing out, even if most nights blended into each other after a while. It also irritated him that as bored as he was, he also dutifully bounded up the steps to Max’s old hidey hole every night like clockwork. It was more than just what he’d agreed to with David. There was some weird pull, something that he couldn’t explain, and it bothered him.</p><p> </p><p>"D says you're looking a lot better.” He was used to talking to himself by now. He didn't know how Dwayne handled his shift, but he remembered hearing somewhere that even unconscious people could hear things, so he figured he might as well keep them both entertained. As it was he had used up all the dirty jokes he knew within the first three days and reading ancient Rolling Stone articles from a stash in a storage closet got old after a night.</p><p> </p><p>"Pretty soon we'll have to wake you up for more than just eating and relieving yourself," he sighed, reaching into his jacket pocket.  She didn’t move, never did. He was used to dead bodies, but this was weirder for him. He thrived best with an audience and not having that threw him off, left him alone with his thoughts, and who needed that? "We're placing bets on what you do once you come to and are able to be out and about again," he admitted and pulled out a ratty pack of playing cards. "I'm not quite sure what I think yet. I don’t get you at all, you know, so my luck I’d just end up losin’ fifty bucks. Go fish or gin rummy? I'm not playing strip poker with you again, you're no fun when you lose," he muttered, hands flying as they elaborately shuffled and cut the deck. "See, any normal chick would be impressed by my quick finger work," he chuckled, eyebrows wagging as he began to deal.</p><p> </p><p>"I guess I just don't get what you're up to," he muttered, glancing at her out of the corner of her eye. She was pretty much in the same pose she usually was: one arm tucked under her head, one leg curled so the foot was resting against her straight leg, forming the number four. At least she looked peaceful and actually asleep instead of strained and comatose. "I mean, what were you thinking? You spent all that time rattling us, put yourself through hell, then hid in the most obvious place? Not that you really had a choice, I guess." he murmured, shrugging at the contradiction. "And you show up all high and mighty but then drop out of the picture and start running. D thinks you’re just running out of options, but I don’t buy it. You’re not dumb, you kept us on a short leash for way too long, especialy for a human. What the hell are you up to? Are you really that sneaky? Is this all some trap to make us drop our guard." He shook his head, licking his lips as he tapped his hand against his mouth. "Got any threes?" He paused, but she didn't answer. Shrugging, he snuck a peek at her cards and slid two away. "Sorry, but if you're not going to keep an eye on your own hand..." He paused to plunk down the threes before dropping the rest of his cards.</p><p> </p><p>"Are you really covering up that much? Are you really that trapped? And if you were why not just team up with your writer mojo and work with us? None of us can decide if you're that conniving or that stupid or just really fucking scared. I mean there's no way you're faking this," he admitted, waving a random card towards her face, the edges just barely brushing her cheek. "But why all this game playing if there's nothing to hide?" He froze out of habit as she rolled towards him. Movement while under influenced sleep wasn't uncommon, but it was eventful enough to gain his attention. Jinny sighed, lower lip jutting in a slight pout. He shook his head and reached to push a strand of hair back out of her face. She exhaled softly, the puff of her breath ghosting over his hand, a muscle in her cheek twitching.</p><p> </p><p>She was beginning to react more. David was right, they'd have to let her surface soon. It was something Paul had been trying to covertly put off as long as possible, but David would only placate him so long under the pretense of walking around his feelings due to past history. It just felt like a confrontation was coming and it would change everything. He liked his life way too much to deal with some new shake-up. They’d sobered up after Michael, they didn’t need another cataclysmic event so soon, even if that had been a while ago.</p><p> </p><p>"Maybe this it what it feels like to be at the other end of things," Paul sighed, sliding his discarded hand into the go fish pile.  "To have no clue if you're being manipulated towards something or if...fuck, I don't even know the other option," he sighed, melding her own hand into the rest of the cards, fingertips mixing them up with each other idly. He bent a leg, fingers habitually picking at the knee of his pants. </p><p> </p><p>"I keep thinking I’ll show up, you’ll freak out, and I’ll get all this curiosity out of my system. You sure as hell aren't like any of the other girls I've played with, been with...killed," he added lamely. "You're actually interesting.” She wasn’t the model or MTV throwback type that usually turned his head, but she wasn’t quite the naïve type he liked breaking, either. He couldn’t quite remember what he’d gone for before he’d been turned, but she seemed too normal, too accessible for his comfort. “You talk too much sometimes and you're fucking frustrating as hell to figure out," he grumbled, "but I have to admit, you're interesting," he sighed, frowning as she shifted, knocking the covers towards her waist.</p><p> </p><p>He tugged them up. "Stoppit, you'll get cold and make yourself sick again," he chided. The slight frown on her face gave way to a slightly peaceful smile and she turned to her side, curling in on herself as if trying to hang onto a particularly pleasant dream. He could almost see it playing out under her eyelids, almost see what she was thinking by the soft movements under the lashes. If only he could catch them, maybe he'd get his answers. A swell of protectiveness grew in his chest and he shook his head, pulling back before he was tempted to do something stupid.</p><p> </p><p>He groaned, shifted because there wasn't anything better to do. He had already read the Playboy that had been under the Rolling Stones and she sure as hell wasn't going to enlighten him with conversation. "It's so stupid!  It's like by having to wait to figure out what was going on you've actually become halfway amusing to have around when you aren't giving us migraines," he complained. "But why not face us down then if you were that pissed? Even you know you can't hide forever. You're not stupid."</p><p> </p><p>Paul swiped the cards off the bed with his leg, watching with disinterest as they skimmed towards the edge before fluttering over. The girl was still in the same position when he looked back, breathing still and even, the whole of her still just as boring. It was amazing how a few days of recovery could change her from a cause to a chore. <em>I’m probably missing all the good eats. And the fights. Shit, this was such a stupid idea. </em>Who knew what tasty treat was out walking around that night...so why the hell had he commit himself to this?</p><p> </p><p>He shook his head and sprawled on the bed facing her, cheek propped up on his fist as he watched her passive face. That was probably the only damn time her face remained passive. Maybe he could use a little influence, but then he'd risk bringing her out from the spell too soon and David would have a conniption. He made a face. "Why all the running? You can tell me, I swear! Haven't I been good to you the past week?" He added, lips pursing when he got no response. He could almost hear the laughter and music from the Boardwalk from the quiet room. </p><p> </p><p>"You know we're not going to let go until we find out what's going on," he demanded, tugging at the coverlet even as he complained. "As all the fun and games have come to a stop until we get you figured out. Life's not cool anymore, but we have no fucking clue if you wrote something or if we're just paranoid." He scowled, started to reach for a cigarette but made himself stop. It wouldn't help the prisoner's recovery any. "Why can’t you just talk to us and figure this out? What the hell do you want, anyway?" he demanded softly, grabbing her free hand and feeling for her temperature out of habit.</p><p> </p><p>Paul froze when her fingertips wiggled clumsily, squeezing his own. There wasn't much pressure there, but she was definitely fighting the spell with her own mule-brained willpower. <em>The hell? That isn’t supposed to happen. What kind of power does she have? </em>It was insanely rare that a human could fight vampire influence, even among the most stubborn. Then again, she had caught David with that trick in the beginning, even if she apparently couldn't fight his mind-searching. It wasn't really that action that made his stomach feel like lead, though.</p><p> </p><p>She leaned towards him, as if seeking his heat, brain still caught up in the scrambled fever-dream-world it had been immersed in. "Love you," she whispered, voice hoarse from not being used. It wasn't the prettiest-sounding confession in the world, it was heart-felt, if unconsciously given.</p><p> </p><p>Paul was off the bed and across the room in a heartbeat, fingers forming the cross as he backed away. "Shit...no way, no <em>fucking</em>way!" he growled, shuddering. "You take that back!" Her form was still and unmoving. <em>I didn’t make that up. I’m not seeing things. </em></p><p> </p><p>He hadn't wanted to believe that she was manipulative, or evil, or any of the other threats that had been wandering around in his brain. "So that's your plan, that's your fucking agenda, eh girl?" he growled. He felt torn between lunging at her and ending things and turning tail to run down the stairs. <em>Is this how humans feel when they see us vamp out? </em>It all made sense: the content of her stories, why she'd come out of nowhere and then went into hiding so they would be forced to think about her, all the stupid games meant to either distract them but that could easily attract their attention right to her. Hell, maybe she had purposefully stayed late out in the rain. That was the easiest way to lure a predator with some shred of humanity left to a trap: bait it with something that would play on sympathies. <em> If she writes us, then she’d know my weaknesses. Fuck. </em></p><p> </p><p>Paul’s fangs burned as they slid down and didn't really care.  "Holy shit, it’s worse than I thought. I actually felt sorry for you! You're more of a vampire than we are!" he growled, pacing slowly, never taking his eyes off the threat on the bed. "You're not taking me, you hear me? You're not turning me from who <em>I</em>am!" he growled, jabbing a hand into his chest. "I <em>like</em>my fun. I <em>like</em>being a killer! You are <em>not </em>gonna Jedi mind trick me into being some pussy because you're hard up!" he shouted, nails jabbing into his palms when he clenched his fists.</p><p> </p><p><em>What makes you think she’d stop at you? </em>his mind taunted. He wasn’t blind, he knew how a lot of women eyed the pack when they took to the Boardwalk, whether they gained their attention or not. "And you're not going to take my friends, either. I don't care what David would say, he was probably the first one you put under your spell, isn't that right? You don't think I have eyes?" he snorted. "Why would I be enough for someone like you? I know my friend's hot. I know that half the chicks I kill are trying to get him through me. Well I'm stopping you right here," he growled. With a slight push of feet off the floor he propelled himself to the bed, hands shaking as he grabbed her neck. "I can't wait to break you in two now that I know. I only wish you were awake to scream for mercy," he purred, licking his lips at the thought of the angle her head would slant when he broke her spine.</p><p> </p><p>As if in answer to a prayer, her eyes opened. They fluttered groggily at first, but her brain soon caught up with the situation. She didn't scream, did wriggle a bit, but her eyes were huge and terrified. Paul grinned evilly, imagining what a sight he was to her now that he was in full vamp mode. "That's right, I'm not the object of your heart's desire now, am I, you twisted bitch. Now I'm the one that's going to rip your throat out," he leered, making sure she could see his teeth, feel his nails as he gripped her throat. She shook but barely moved. He could smell her fear, though. It was a rank smell, something that turned his stomach much more than a kill’s typical fear. Usually he enjoyed it when the game was given away and a human saw his true face, but this, this just felt wrong. He didn't like her smelling like that, didn't ever want to smell that on her. <em>She’s trying to use her powers on you. </em>"Another one of your tricks, bitch? You're not taking this vampire," he growled and squeezed her windpipe. </p><p> </p><p>"Are you fucking insane?!" Dwayne snarled behind him. Paul didn't care, didn't mind that he was snapping at his best friend's hands when Dwayne tried to yank him off of his prey. He kept his eyes on hers, felt like he was burning into her stare. She wheezed under his hands, fumbled for his wrists.</p><p> </p><p>"Dude, you have no idea! She's dangerous. Let me have her and David'll thank me!" he replied, nails so close to the tempting jugular. "I won't even feed, I don't' want to have that sludge in me," he snarled, tugging her hair roughly when she weakly tried to push him off her.</p><p> </p><p>"No," she croaked, bucking, but it didn't do a lick of good. </p><p> </p><p>"Get the fuck off of her," Dwane growled, tugging harder at him.</p><p> </p><p>"Let me take her out, man!" he panted, groaning as he strained against Dwayne's weight over him. "Just let me kill her!" he screamed, teeth burning with the disappointment of only touching air.</p><p> </p><p>"What the hell has gotten into you?" Dwayne hissed, grabbing at the wildly flailing arms and legs as he pulled his struggling brother off the form on the bed. </p><p> </p><p>"I figured it out, I know what she wants. We have to kill her, we have to do it now!" Paul grunted, straining as he struggled against the hold on him.</p><p> </p><p>"Do you now? You're a walking contradiction, aren't you, Paulie," a stony voice observed. Paul swallowed hard, but his fangs remained in full view as he turned to stare. David leaned against the doorframe, obviously pissed. "I come to check up on the babysitter before Dwayne takes over for the rest of the night and this is what I see. I have to say I'm not impressed, especially when you're the one who was freaked out about losing her in the first place." </p><p> </p><p>"What the..let me go, let me..." Jinny gasped, slowly gaining strength and volume, though she still had to make a hell of an effort to get there. She’d rolled to the floor and managed a fumbling crawl, though she was disoriented enough that she couldn’t quite decide where to go.</p><p> </p><p>"Dwayne, can you?" David asked, still looking at Paul. The dark-haired vampire nodded and released his friend, quickly scooping up the girl that was trying to get to the door. </p><p> </p><p>"Easy, girl, it’s okay. Sleep, sweetheart, you'll feel better," he whispered, staring intently into her eyes, his hand passing gently over her forehead. She growled and tried to fight it but soon slumped back against his arms. Paul watched in muted horror as the demon was put back to bed like she was some kind of princess. <em>We’re fucked. Lost and damned. She’s won. I’ll never be able to save the others now. </em>Slowly he turned to regard David.</p><p> </p><p>There wasn't any indication as to David's real emotions on his face; there usually never was. But his eyes were somber and Paul knew instinctively that he was furious at the thought of being undermined. Shit, she was a clever vixen, turning them all against each other like that. </p><p>           </p><p>"David, we have to!" he whispered tightly. "You don't understand what'll happen if we don't. We have to just cut our losses and kill her!" </p><p> </p><p>One eyebrow raised. "Come with me. Dwayne, watch her like usual. We'll pull her from the trance come dusk tomorrow."</p><p> </p><p>"That'll be too late, she's already fighting it-" Paul babbled, hands tearing at his hair, head shaking.</p><p> </p><p>"Will you <em>calm down</em>?!" David hissed, smacking him against the back of the head with just enough force to shock him into rationalization. </p><p> </p><p>"You can't leave him alone with her," he protested, nodding towards the door as David nudged him down the stairs.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm sure Dwayne can protect himself from such a horrible foe," David muttered.</p><p> </p><p>"This isn't funny!" Paul shouted, turning to rush up the stairs. David blocked him, nearly dragged him down the rest of the way before he pushed him up against the far wall. Paul shifted uncomfortably; he wasn't used to being in the weaker position and didn't like it at all, even if it was at the hand of a brother. He half expected David to open his mouth and start gushing about their captive, how he shouldn't mistreat her and how they were meant or some stupid shit. It would be just like her to pull some ventriloquist spell on the hardened leader of the pack to make him start spewing hearts and flowers. </p><p> </p><p>To his surprise and relief David actually was talking sense. "No, it isn't. So why don't you tell me what you think is going on?”</p><p> </p><p>"She's going to possess and mind whammy us, man. For all I know you're really on her side, trying to turn the rest of us!"</p><p> </p><p>David's lip quirked despite his stony facade. "So it's Invasion of the Body Snatchers? I know you've been spending more time in the video store lately, but you've got to lay off whatever you're smoking."</p><p> </p><p>"You don't get it," Paul sighed, not daring to fight David's grip. "She's going to turn us against each other. We've already admitted nothing around town anymore is fun. The blood doesn't taste as good, the killing isn't as satisfying, the girls aren’t as fun, and it's all because we're focused on one thing! Her," he breathed, eyes intensely focused.</p><p> </p><p>David frowned and let go. "Calm down. So what would that gain her?"</p><p> </p><p>"She was pissed we killed her character, we know that much. Maybe this is her revenge. Taking control of all of us or something," he mumbled, gaze faltering slightly.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, but she admitted we're not hers directly," David pointed out. "And she if she had that kind of power she likely would have led with that right off the bat and made us pay. So why don't you tell me what's really on your mind."</p><p> </p><p>Paul stared at David as if he was judging which way his loyalty really lay before taking a step around him, shrugging. "She's going to get us...me," he muttered softly.  "She doesn't care that we're killers or that we have our own lives. She's only after us for whatever stupid twisted reasons she has."</p><p> </p><p>David frowned. "I'm still not following."</p><p> </p><p>"Look, she writes those stories right? The porn?"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah..." How such a smart guy could be so utterly clueless was beyond Paul. Maybe she made her victims stupid first before the hearts and flowers. </p><p> </p><p>"And now that she's here all we can think about is dealing with her and things don't seem right!" he urged, waiting for it all to click together in David's head.</p><p> </p><p>"Okay, but you still turned off somewhere that I'm not finding an exit to," David sighed.</p><p> </p><p>Paul groaned in frustration. "How many more dots do you need to connect them, D? She's trying to weave some sort of weird love spell! She wants me! She wants me to fall completely for her so I'll give up everything I like and just be some sort of zombie mind-slave to her porn-writing whims!" Paul blurted, hands tangled in his hair.</p><p> </p><p>David blinked, started to open his mouth and had to shut it.</p><p> </p><p>"You're laughing!" Paul was ready to scream. It was exactly like those conspiracy movies they had spent a weekend binging on before the shop had closed down.</p><p> </p><p>"No, I'm really not," David insisted, unable to keep the smirk hidden completely.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes you are!  I knew it, she's gotten to you! Now I'm totally fucked!" Paul groaned, turning to bang his head against the wall.</p><p> </p><p>"Will you cut it out! You're just going to wake her up and she'll come down here and suck your brains out through your cock or something," David snorted. </p><p>           </p><p>"Shut up, I'm serious!"</p><p> </p><p>"You're freaked out because you care about her."</p><p> </p><p>Paul whirled, face not that of the vampire but as close to it as he could get without changing. "I am not!! I don't! It was just because she was so much like....y'know...she probably used that to get to me"</p><p> </p><p>"Uh-huh. Because putting herself in danger hoping we’d be the ones to find her was the smart move. You can blame her getting sick all you want, bro, but you've been curious about her ever since she showed up," David sighed. "Do you really think if I thought she was that much of a threat that I'd let her live?" he asked softly. "Especially after Becky?"</p><p> </p><p>"But there you go, she created that stupid character! That's what she wants-"</p><p> </p><p>"She wants to be coerced, taken for granted, manipulated, banged out of her mind out of manipulation, and then steered towards death?" David asked wryly.</p><p> </p><p>"Well it doesn't sound as romantic when you put it like that," Paul huffed as he leaned the front of his body into his arm, burying his face against his hand. </p><p> </p><p>"Look, I have no clue why she writes that stuff. You'd have to ask her. But it's fairly close to the mark, yeah?" Paul shrugged briefly but didn't speak. "She may not get everything, but it doesn’t seem like she’s really trying to change us. No matter what she threatened. If anything she seems intimidated by us, yeah?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul shrugged, felt like a whiney kid for doing so. "Maybe."</p><p> </p><p>"And she may perk up a little when you're around, but I haven't noticed her trying to get anything by you. She hasn't put anything in your drinks or any of your victims. She doesn't carry little dolls of you around," David insisted. "I think she plain bit off more than she can chew and is freaked out and doesn't want to admit what her cards exactly are. Would you if you were her and the opposition was us?" </p><p> </p><p>Paul sighed but David could tell his brain had actually started working again. "Not if I was fighting for my life, no."</p><p> </p><p>"Right. And have you been thinking anything out of the ordinary in the scheme of it all?</p><p> </p><p>Paul turned, face paler than it usually was. "I don't wanna kill her. I'm not plotting all the ways to do her in like I usually do. I’m not looking forward to drinking her and by now I should be. The sex is usually the first course for the whole thing,  you know that...and I'm not even thinking about her death...I just...."</p><p> </p><p>David nodded slowly. "You're curious about her."</p><p> </p><p>Paul nodded. "Well yeah, man, we don't know a thing about her! Not really."</p><p> </p><p>"But you still like killing?"</p><p> </p><p>"Well yeah, but it doesn't taste as great as usual-"</p><p> </p><p>"You've been stressed," David soothed. "And I never want to have to ask this again but you've been getting up alright?"</p><p> </p><p>"I never have trouble waking up in the mornings, that's Dwayne," he replied, shaking his head. </p><p> </p><p>David's eyes clenched shut. "<em>Not </em>what I meant."</p><p> </p><p>Paul blinked then grinned broadly. "Ooooh, oh yeah, I'm fine in that area. It's not as good as it usually is, though."</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, well, like I said, you've been stressed. But if you aren't having problems-"</p><p> </p><p>"Well no," Paul admitted. "I still like pussy, still think about pussy, still jack off a few times a night, still-"</p><p> </p><p> "I've got the idea," David interjected before the admissions became descriptive. "You're still you, man. You're not abstinent, vice-free, you aren't listening to Kenny G or composing odes or some shit. You still like what you like. You're fine!" he insisted.</p><p> </p><p>Paul nodded. "You promise? You'd stake me if I ever started becoming some sort of google-eyed love zombie?"</p><p> </p><p>"Fuck yes. You think I'd live with that? It's just a little crush or something. Bizarre, but it can happen, I guess," David sighed.</p><p> </p><p>"Alright...." Paul said, nodding slowly. "You won't tell the others? I'm not going soft!"</p><p> </p><p>"I never said you were! And I'll keep my mouth shut," he promised. "How did you figure all this out, anyway?" David asked.</p><p> </p><p>Paul shrugged. "She told me."</p><p> </p><p>"She woke up and immediately professed her undying love for you?" David raised a brow.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, I was bored, talking to her...and she rolled towards me and said I love you!"</p><p> </p><p>David raised a brow. "So she didn't know it was you."</p><p> </p><p>Paul snorted. "I was there in the room!"</p><p> </p><p>"Paul, she was asleep. It was probably just a dream," David soothed.</p><p> </p><p>"See? She's even dreaming about me, I told you she was obsessed!" </p><p> </p><p>David sighed. "Go out and get a bite. Get laid. Get stoned, get <em>something </em>and calm the hell down!”</p><p> </p><p>Paul nodded slowly and headed for the door. "Yeah...maybe I just need to chill."</p><p> </p><p>"I'll catch up to you. Paul?" David asked when his friend started out the door. Paul turned, still looking dejected.</p><p> </p><p>"You're fine. I promise."</p><p> </p><p>He nodded but was still huffy upon leaving. "Sure, you say that now, wait until I turn into some vampire Cupid and make you all write poetry!" he grumbled. David rolled his eyes and headed up the stairs. He had to hand it to the chick, she had certainly made life interesting for all of them.</p><p> </p><p>Thankfully, Dwayne looked far more sane when he entered the room. "She alright?" he asked, nodding to the girl sprawled across the sofa bed. Dwayne nodded as he shifted her body back under the covers.</p><p> </p><p>"Plenty freaked out, but he didn't hurt her. She put up a hell of a fight going under, though.” </p><p> </p><p>"We'll bring her out tomorrow," David agreed, tugging at one of his gloves while he watched her passive face. "It's going to be an ordeal."</p><p> </p><p>"To say the least. What the hell was up with Paulie?"</p><p> </p><p>David shook his head. "He's spent way too much time watching conspiracy movies. He's just tired. It's been rough on him." Dwayne nodded and David couldn't quite tell if the slight smile was because he was catching the unspoken subtext of the situation.  "Are you going to be alright with her?" he asked. So far, Dwayne hadn't taken out any aggressions on the girl, but he wanted to keep her undamaged until they figured out just what she intended towards them.</p><p> </p><p>"David, give me some credit," Dwayne replied, though it didn't escape David's notice that his friend took time and care adjusting the girl to a more comfortable position. He'd be inclined to believe Paulie if he didn't have a shred of sanity left. It was bizarrely true that she evoked some caring part in all of them, but in the end, it was more because they didn't dare damage a wild card. "I'm not going to go ape shit when I'm here to do a job," Dwayne remarked a little too flippantly as he took a seat beside the sleeping girl, pulling out a book from God knew where. </p><p> </p><p>David shook his head, quietly bemused with the two polar opposites that were standing guard duty. <em>Paulie’s right about one thing. It’s getting to be a fucking soap opera and the main characters don’t have a clue. </em>Dwayne at least would keep a cool head about the situation and do his duty without become a full-throttle drama queen. Now if he could just calm Paul down without getting the urge to see sunrise in the process. "Alright. Just keep an eye out. I don't think he'd come back, but you never know with Paul."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne didn't look up but David could feel his grimace. "I hate the thought of having to guard something against one of us.” </p><p> </p><p>"I know, but you saw what happened."</p><p> </p><p>"I'm sure it won't happen again. He's upset for whatever reason but he's not stupid."</p><p>           </p><p>David nodded, tugged the wrists of his gloves absently. "Yeah, you're probably right. "At any case, be on alert. And try to not pass completely out right away, huh? If she’s putting up a fight, we can’t take risks," he added, smirking at the slight twitch in Dwayne's seemingly cool facial expression.</p><p> </p><p>"I 'm not going to let anything happen," he snapped, for all the world sounding like a teenage babysitter pissed off about being found out she had snuck her boyfriend over.</p><p>           </p><p>"I know you need your beauty sleep, but shit happens during the day, too. Just don't go all the way under, okay?"</p><p> </p><p>"David..." the low voice warned. "I'll be fine. She'll be fine. If anything happens, you'll know. If you want to leave a list of emergency numbers and the number of where you'll be at by the phone and then take inventory of the fridge before you leave, go to it," Dwayne added, sarcasm oozing from behind the book cover. </p><p> </p><p>"I'm just trying to make sure we don't have to go chasing her around or anything. And that we don't have a repeat of what just happened," he pointed out. </p><p> </p><p>"Look, don't worry! I'll be good. Nothing there I'm interested in, anyway. Nothing'll happen to her and she'll be here when tomorrow night comes," he added, not even looking up as he flicked his tongue against his thumb before searching for the page he had left off on.</p><p> </p><p>David nodded, finally heading for the door. He smirked slightly as his keen hearing detected a barely audible sigh of relief at the prospect of him leaving. He needed them on their guard, but he couldn't resist stirring the pot just a little. "Well, you're telling the truth on that last bit, anyway," he admitted before heading out of the building. </p><p> </p><p>The deep brown eyes waited until they were sure David was completely down the stairs before sliding up from the page they'd been pretended to be fixated on. "What the hell was that supposed to mean?" Dwayne muttered, rolling his eyes. His lips tugged into a grimace somewhere behind page 207 as he glanced down at the sleeping form beside him. "No offense, babe, but I don't care how interesting you are, you can’t distract me. I’ve seen all types and I don’t get caught," he muttered, quickly catching up on the open pages before licking his finger and continuing his reading. "Though come to think of it my usual type usually doesn't fight back, doesn't think, and ends up dead," he admitted after a few silent moments. It was odd, usually he didn't mind the quiet of evenings on duty but tonight it was getting to him, making him think about things that he should have no reason to ponder. He was comfortable with himself, knew who he was, and yet...</p><p> </p><p>"You must've done something to get Paul all worked up, that's all I have to say," he finally admitted, smirking slightly. "Just feel lucky you came away unscathed," he added, leaning on his side to regard her. Dwayne glanced at the clock on the wall, could feel the dawn coming. Sure he could stay in half-sleep, but she wasn't about to <em>go</em> anywhere, especially since she had just been put under not even an hour before. "David can suck me, you've put us through our paces lately, girl, and I intend to get some shut eye," he sighed, swiftly moving under the covers. "I don't care how well he thinks you are, you're not going to run away, are you?" he murmured, brushing the hair out of her face. Now that it was clean it seemed to have the problem of flopping about everywhere. He didn't know about the others, but it drove him absolutely out of his mind to let it fall in her face. He set the book on the floor and made himself comfortable, careful to stay on his side of the bed. The last thing he needed was to wake up too late and have the others ribbing him about being curled up with the enemy. </p><p> </p><p>"Nope, you're not going anywhere," he murmured, careful to keep one eye open and trained on her until the sun crept higher in the sky and he absolutely couldn't hold out anymore.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Waking Up Is Still Hard to Do</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny wakes up and attempts to deal with her new predicament. Poor Dwayne.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Kind of dubious consent this chapter, though nothing is fully initiated. </p><p>I did actually contemplate taking this chapter out, but I think it works in the overall scheme of things, there is an important plot point buried in here, and I toned it down a bit from what it originally was. In the real world consent is important, no matter what you're doing and with who - man, woman, or vampire.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Waking up was like swimming the English Channel filled with taffy while lugging a full-grown elephant behind her. It seemed to take forever, no matter how vehement Jinny was about getting conscious. When her eyes finally open her first instinct was to burrow far under the covers and go back to whatever twisted dream her mind was providing her. Jinny processed that slowly, the realization that she was in an actual bed delighting and terrifying her all at once. She’d long given up hoping that her bizarre life turn was all a dream, yet this new development was progress. <em>Maybe I’ve woken up in a better universe. </em>Her chest tightened instantly and she could feel the sweat bead along her back, but she was feeling better. She could swallow without crying, stay awake for more than two seconds without falling over. She’d take it.</p><p> </p><p>Over her stay in Santa Carla she had gotten used to getting her hopes up thinking it was all a nightmare so she knew she was still in California. She wasn't lucky enough to get instant plot resolution. But the images stuck in the front of her brain disturbed her. She had overheard Marko and David in the rain, come up to the video shop, given out what she could afford to...been tired and obviously ill...Jax had come back...</p><p> </p><p>Her body was fairly relaxed to the point of being limp as she continued to process her memories. She had to suppress a growl at the thought of the punk surfer. At the time she would have taken any help she could, but she'd bet a good amount that her leftover cash was now nowhere near her. But then...someone had found her. She had vague images of being dragged to the bathroom over the last few days, of being woken up to choke down food and medicine. She vaguely remembered fighting back, but why would she have?</p><p> </p><p>The last in the string of occurrences burned so brightly she nearly gasped in pain. Paul. Paul had found her. Not only had he found her, but he’d had only one thing on his mind and it sure as hell wouldn't have been anything she would've enjoyed. Her hand went to her throat. It was tender, but in one piece. She would have loved to have believed that was a dream, but she would never have made up that much hatred aimed at her from that close a range. Or all his words.</p><p> </p><p> So that's what they thought of her, then. A bitch, manipulative, worse than them. <em>You knew from the start they weren’t your friends. Now you know where he stands, so you can let any weird crush go. He’d never give you mercy, let alone the time of day. </em>Her stomach felt more empty than it had a right to feel, her skin cold and clammy under all the covers. But why had he not killed her if that was obviously what he wanted?</p><p> </p><p>And who the hell was taking such good care of her anyway? She sat up slightly, wincing at the scream from unused muscles. She was clean. Her body was actually clean for once, and not the half-assed clean she had gotten herself to by rationing her soap supply. She was truly dirt free. A weak smile trembled across her face as her hand rubbed through her hair. It hadn't felt that normal in what seemed like forever. And she was in warm clothes, sweats of some sort, a size too big, but she’d take it. It was something that would actually keep her warm.</p><p> </p><p>In her disoriented, giddy state she turned to assess the room she was in, heart starting to pound a little harder when she saw it was still the video store. <em>Jax wouldn’t have done this, and everyone else left. </em></p><p> </p><p>And then she realized there was someone in the bed with her. They were a good deal away from her, thankfully, but she had no recollection of crawling into bed with anyone. She slowly turned her head, steeling herself for every lurid possibility. </p><p> </p><p>Jinny was surprised by the volume of her scream when she saw who was tucked in beside her. Her hand clamped over her mouth, though she slowly realized that it wouldn't do much good if he heard her, anyway. Dwayne lay motionless. His chest lay still without the usual soft movements that distinguished mortal slumber. He lay sprawled out so comfortably, casually even. Either he had come in to get her and been caught unawares or...he was watching her. Helping to hold her captive. But why spare her?</p><p> </p><p>Unless her real fate was to be at the hands of the whole gang. That would be so much worse, so much of what they thought she deserved. They'd be cruel enough to nurse her back to health and then systematically torture her. She shuddered and pulled away, brain still half-asleep and confused as she took in the supplies flung about the room, the new change of clothes presumably waiting for her, the prescription bottle set carefully in plain sight on the floor. </p><p> </p><p>"You are a bunch of sadistic bastards, aren't you?" she whispered, shaking her head, hands gripping her knees to stop her body from trembling. "What a better way to bait a trap than with kind gestures. Figures. Or are you really trying to play the humanitarian? Seems like you're quite the saint to the right kind of person," she spat, her fury on low boil as she looked around the room, letting her brain wake up. It was stupid to be jealous and she knew it, but her emotions ran away from her all too easily.</p><p> </p><p>She looked at him again, frowning at how dead asleep he was. Hadn't there been that scene in the movie where he had been faking, just waiting for the prey to get a little bit closer?  "Or are you just waiting for an opportune moment?” she muttered, gently reaching out and poking him in the chest. He remained motionless. She shook her head before sliding off the sofa bed, looking around carefully for something to wet her parched throat and take the taste of sweat sock out of her mouth. An unopened bottle of Gatorade sat on the floor. She reached for it, nose wrinkling in slight distaste. That had to be what the sweat sock taste was from. Her hand brushed against a grocery bag that was half-hidden under the bed. She tugged it out easily before flattening herself against the floor, stretching her arm to its limit until she was feeling under the couch itself. Her face broke into a weak grin when her hand brushed the strap of the guard's purse, still where she had hidden it. She may not have any money, but she wasn't out of the game yet. Jinny tugged the bag free, half-glancing in the grocery bag.</p><p> </p><p>An unopened six-pack lay in the plastic. She considered it slowly before glancing to the Gatorade. <em>I probably shouldn’t if I’ve been on meds. </em>"Fuck it...after all that's happened I deserve to get trashed," she muttered, summoning extra strength to pull a can free and pop the top.</p><p>           </p><p>About a can and a half later she realized that it had been way, way too long since she’d last even had wine at a dinner party. While she hated beer, she liked being tipsy. And if it interfered with the antibiotics, well she was as good as dead anyway. She paused in her musings to check the progress of the limp body next to her for the thousandth time. At first it had been a relief he was still not moving. Now it was just plain pissing her off.</p><p> </p><p>"Fine job you have," she muttered, the bottled-up fear turning to weariness and anger with a little help from the alcohol. "Sleep all day, party all night, never grow old, never die, and all that shit," she muttered, making faces and lowering her voice to a decent portrayal of him. "Bitch," she muttered, turning suddenly to weakly smack her fist into his jaw. She hissed, the only real effect was a throbbing in her knuckles. She couldn't even get any real force behind the blow. Fuming, she adjusted her angle and promptly slammed her hand into his groin, smirking as he at least twitched a little upon impact. "Well that's at least a reaction. Might as well do some damage before I die," she snorted, pausing to draw from the can in her hand.</p><p> </p><p>"I mean, do you have any idea how fucking hard it's been?" she snarled, eyes narrowing. "I just can't figure you out. Any of you. Except for the fact that you want me dead because of who I am," she sighed, suddenly compelled to take up a meaningful relationship with the can in her hand.</p><p> </p><p>"See what you drove me to?" she added, hefting the beer into what would have been Dwayne's view if his eyes had been open. "Isn't it enough that I'm eating trash and scrounging around, hiding so that you don't gut me? Though if this isn't a time to get drunk, I don' t know what is," she grumbled, wobbling to her feet and moving to where she had seen the clothes that were apparently chosen for her. "Though why you went to all this effort when you only want me dead. You must have something particularly gruesome up your sleeves," she sighed, wincing at the time it took to focus to unfold everything. <em>I can’t do this right now. Too hard. Need to wake up more.</em></p><p> </p><p>"Tell you what. I'll stay, but only till tonight. I'll just leave before you wake up. Not like you're much of a threat at the moment," she admitted. "Looks like you just made my choice of a future for me. I'll be gone from Santa Carla by late tonight, early tomorrow," she explained, alcohol loosening her tongue and pride inflating her ego. "I have that chick guard's gun still. I'll just knock over that coffee place and run like hell. Not like I can stay here with you bastards chasing me. If you only knew what it's like, or even cared. You’d probably just think it’s funny," she sighed. </p><p> </p><p>"At least you all have each other," she admitted. “I guess no matter what universe I’m in, all I’ve got is me at the end of the day.” She quickly reached for the discarded can and felt better almost immediately. She put it down again and regarded him carefully.</p><p>           </p><p>"Well, I've got to get dressed and you're not exactly going to stop me. Try to hold yourself back, I know it'll be hard," she warned as she fumbled with the hem of the sweatshirt, doing her best to wriggle it up over her head. "I just don't get you, y'know? I know the need for sex and I get the need for blood, but how do you stand all the idiocy? Don't you guys have eyes? Or taste? Or any fucking shame at all - dammit!" she snarled, clawing at the shirt that refused to come off before yanking it over her head. It tangled around her body and there was a brief but colorful interlude as she wriggled with her head stuck in the collar before it flew onto the floor and she ground her foot into it. "I mean, are you guys that tightknit that you're the only relationships you need? Or do you just hate women, or don’t care as long as they put out and have blood?" she mused, sliding the pants down over her legs in a much easier gesture.</p><p>           </p><p>She crossed to the end of the couch in an exaggerated saunter and posed as if she was at the end of a catwalk. "Not too bad, eh? Be honest." Jinny glanced at him and shook her head at his catatonic state. "Yeah, that's the reaction I usually get. I'm not surprised. Not like I'm that blow-up doll you were seducing weeks ago," she snorted, tilting her head. "But I tell you what," she mused, slowly pushing herself up onto the arm of the couch and crawling over him until they were nose to nose and she was suspended only inches above his body. It was lunacy and probably suicide, but the beer and her adrenaline convinced the rest of her that it was the best idea she’d ever had. "I tell you what...since after tonight I'm not going to be here...if you wake up right now you can have me any way you want. I'm not gonna stop you. It's not like I have a real future, anyway," she admitted, gently stroking his face, licking her lips at the way his stubble scritched her finger pads. "So you can do whatever you want to me...any perverted thing at all. I won’t even fight you if you drain me. And all you have to do is wake...up," she whispered, letting it sink in. And stared at him when he remained motionless. </p><p> </p><p>"Bastard," she growled, sitting down hard on his pelvis. "I bet you do pad yourself!" she growled, a wicked smile slowly crossing her face. "I could always find out. I always have been curious about all of you, and this is a chance I won't get again," she admitted, adjusting herself on his lap and freezing when something sprung to life. "Looks like not all of you feels like sleeping," she snickered, wriggling against this new appearance. "Always wondered what one of you was like up close anyway. I'll just take my own survey for artistic purposes," she reassured him, patting him lightly on the cheek. "Not like you can do much until sunset," she managed, trying to contain the sudden urge to laugh and not very well. </p><p> </p><p>Slowly she ran her hand through his hair, shaking her head in admiration. "Damn, vampires must have some kind of magic conditioner," she mused before poking him in the chest gently. "Dwayne...Dwayne? Alright, I'm going to keep going," she taunted. Her fingertips gently slid to his eyelids and pushed them open. She shivered at the slightest hint of gold, but his pupils were rolled back and twitching. "Must be dreaming," she murmured as she released him, suddenly laughing as the presence against her leg grew harder. "Must be a <em>really</em>good dream...or am I doing this to you?" she asked, squirming hard against his groin, grinning when it responded. "Well, well. You'd probably freak if you knew this was going on," she giggled, hand moving to his mouth as she traced his lips then moved to lift the upper one back. </p><p> </p><p>Her breath stilled at the hint of fang. "Wow," she breathed, finding nothing to joke about there before pulling her hand away, wincing as her thumb caught on the tip of the tooth. "Shit!" she gasped, quickly sucking on the oozing cut. She thought she saw him swallow, maybe even smile, but he sure as hell didn't wake up. "Man, you are a heavy sleeper," she chuckled, gently running the wound right under his nose like a smelling salt. Nothing. </p><p> </p><p>"Come on, sleeping beauty, I wanna play!" she sighed, gripping his shoulders and giving him a good shake. She was either more inebriated than she had thought or she really had nothing to lose. She definitely wouldn’t have been able to get within five feet of him if she was sober. He’d always been the one that had intimidated her, even when she wrote him. He was too much of a mystery, too pretty, too everything. He was also obviously the type who would ignore her at every opportunity, and her survival instincts had always approached that type of man with kid gloves. It was easier to just stay away. Now, though, well, he couldn’t exactly kill or humiliate her if he wasn’t awake, though that meant he couldn’t do other things to her, either. She shivered at the memory of their brief kiss ages ago and bit her lip.</p><p> </p><p><em>What the hell. I’ll never get this chance again. </em>Scrunching her brow she stared at the unconscious face before firmly grabbing his cheeks and lifting his head. With renewed boldness she pressed her mouth to his, firmly sucking on his lower lip as she ground down onto his hips. His lower parts responded quite nicely, but everything above the belt was as still as stone. "It worked before. Come on!" she growled, releasing his face so his head fell onto the pillow with a thunk. </p><p>           </p><p>"You know what you are?" she hissed, trembling in frustration and anger. "You are really boring is what you are!" Her face grew thoughtful and she smiled. "You're a hell of a good listener, though, I'll give you that," she added, patting his cheek. </p><p> </p><p>"You don't smell like death, though," she admitted, breathing him in. There was the scent of the night, of engines, of wind, and the slight metallic scent of blood, but nothing horrible. Jinny lazily put her finger in her mouth, eyes glittering as she regarded him. "Wakey, wakey," she purred before sliding her finger into his ear and twisting. "Damn, I would've thought that would've done it, that drives everyone nuts," she sighed, pulling her hand back and wiping it on his thigh. </p><p> </p><p>"My god you aren't a lot of fun like this! How come every idiot with three brain cells can get you trailing after her with your tongue hanging out, but apparently I can't even interest you enough to wake you up? What can I do to get you to pay attention? What do vampires like? Too bad it's not my time of the month, then all I'd have to do is sit on your face or something," she sighed, shaking her head. The saner part of her was mortified, but that logical part was way far back in her brain somewhere and she was tired of listening to it.</p><p> </p><p>"Maybe..." she whispered, leaning up to suck softly on his chin before gliding her mouth down the side of his neck. His skin was smooth there, and she lightly fondled his necklace as she regarded him. Just like when he’d caught her before she’d escaped via liplock, she couldn’t help but feel a strange pull, like she couldn’t have gotten away from him at that moment even if she wanted to. Her fingers toyed with his hair and she leaned back down to his mouth, but shifted at the last moment to his throat. She paused at a spot and began to suck, first gently then with increasing force until she was sure it was tender. “Wake up,” she whispered, nosing his ear before nipping back down the side of his neck. His skin felt abnormally good under her lips, and she found herself abandoning thought and giving into instinct.  Abruptly she sunk her teeth deep into the skin. It wasn't hard enough to draw blood but she was quite pleased with the teeth marks and large bruise that began to form when she pulled away. <em>What the hell got into me? </em> "There's a little souvenir for ya," she chuckled, reaching down to the floor for her neglected can.</p><p> </p><p> "I'd offer you a drink but...I don't wanna," she yawned, suddenly feeling too relaxed to the point of being lethargic. "I'm just going to crash here. I'll be off before you wake up," she mumbled, dropping down onto the chest that usually intimidated the crap out of her, opening an eye to glance up at him. "You better not snore." Quite suddenly the adrenaline faded away and exhaustion took its place, the alcohol aiding it to pull her into deep sleep.</p>
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<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Bring Me to Life</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny and Dwayne have rude awakenings and have to deal with the concequences of their actions</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jinny’s eyes snapped open and she winced at the dull throbbing in her skull. She hadn’t quite had quite enough for a hangover, but she definitely felt fucked over. "Damn low tolerance," she whispered, wincing as she did so.  "Damn sickness. Damn everything. Where even am I?" she yawned, and stretched out over the massively hard pillow she’d flopped on, eyes fluttering closed as she gave herself a moment to settle. And then her brain caught up with her and her eyes snapped open again. She looked down in quiet horror. <em>Nope, nope, that is definitely not a pillow. That is not a pillow and absolutely a vampire. </em>Her breathing had gone shallow and she shivered at the temperature in the apartment. Her brain caught up with her even more and she cursed herself a blue streak. <em>Holy shit, woman, no more alcohol for you if a few beers makes you get naked. What the hell is wrong with you? </em>What had seemed like a hilarious, brilliant idea hours before left her shivering in just a pair of panties on top of one of her four biggest enemies in Santa Carla.</p><p> </p><p>She frowned when her body shifted, and the awful realizations kept coming. She hadn’t just woken up for the hell of it. Dwayne had moved.  </p><p> </p><p><em>No, no, no, I refuse to die in my underwear! </em>She quickly tried to roll off the unconscious vampire and frowned when her lower back wouldn’t cooperate. She wriggled, frowned at the presence that was <em>still</em>jabbing her in the thigh. "God I don't envy you that. You are going to be some kind of cranky when you wake up," she sighed. Dwayne’s body shifted and she dug her knees into the mattress on either side of his torso to keep from face planting on him. Her hands darted around, desperately looking at something to hold onto that wasn’t shirtless vampire. <em>This is so bad, so very bad, I’m so dead! </em>“Okay, I’m just going to leave now, so you’re just going to have to let go. Maybe I can just slip out of your grip” she whispered, biting her lip as she carefully planted her hands on the pillow on either side of his head an prayed he didn’t come to while her boobs were in his face. That would be mortifying and she was pretty sure there were important blood vessels there. Dwayne stretched out underneath her, rocking her forward, and the arm over her back tightened. "Shit. You weren't supposed to do that!" she hissed, clamping her mouth shut when his head moved to the other side. </p><p> </p><p>She had to hurry; if he was that close to waking it meant that the others could potentially be on their way and with her luck they’d bust in to see their brother clutching her like a half-naked stuffed animal. She glanced at the clock then looked at Dwayne’s face, not daring to move. The air was so quiet she was sure she could hear the ticking of the second hand. After a while when she was convinced he wasn’t going to snap to life, she decided to try again. Holding her breath, Jinny slowly reached for his hand and moved herself against him. Her eyes clenched shut as her chest pressed against his and she tried <em>so hard </em>to think innocent thoughts. She couldn't hide her gasp when he suddenly shifted and arched against her, sending a jolt of heat into her lower bits. </p><p> </p><p>"Oh fuck," she whimpered. "Okay, you don't pad yourself, now let me go!" she pleaded, biting her lip fiercely to resist the temptation of shaking him awake. "I've got to get a move on or I'll never make my schedule!" she added, becoming increasingly frantic when she found that his arm was not about to move off her. </p><p> </p><p>            "Dwayne...come on, please. You don’t want this, I don’t want to see the look on your face when you catch me, let’s just forget this ever happened!" she whispered, her voice so soft that she didn't expect him to hear her. She hoped he didn't, anyway. "Shit, what do I do?" she squeaked, hand tapping against his chest anxiously. As if in response, his hand slid down to her ass, squeezing as well as pressing her harder against him. "Oh stop that!" she gasped, gritting her teeth as she tried to focus. <em>He’ll kill you. Think about death and getting free. Or think</em><em>about bunnies or puppies. Think about anything but how close you are and where his hand’s at! Think of something, anything!</em> "You asked for it, buddy," she grumbled, carefully leaning up and tilting his face down, shaking in his grip as she stared up into his face, praying those eyes were closed.</p><p> </p><p>She let out a low breath when all she saw were his lids. It was a gamble, but desperate times and all that. Carefully, slowly, gently, she pressed her mouth against his, hoping to coax his hand off her just a little. He tasted of things she didn't really want to think about, his lips were soft and he was warmer than she thought he'd be. It wasn't unpleasant, but the lack of response killed any real enjoyment. "Amazing. I can't get you to respond to me awake or asleep," she muttered darkly against his mouth. "I must be exceptionally talented or really screwed up."</p><p> </p><p>She had almost pulled away when his lips moved under hers. Jinny froze, not expecting that, or for his tongue to press between her lips and brush against the tip of hers. Jinny gasped, wide-eyed and motionless, inadvertently allowing him even more entrance. Dwayne's arm actually tightened around her as his mouth slanted under hers, tongue half-moving in her mouth before she quickly pulled away. <em>Oh God, oh God, oh God…</em></p><p> </p><p>The bastard was actually still asleep, looking far more peaceful than he had a right to. "Dwayne," she murmured, watching him carefully. <em>I can use this. Maybe. Just focus on his mouth and ignore every damn thing below your waist, idiot.</em>He gave a soft grunt of recognition and she gently stroked his face. "Dwayne, baby," she purred, feeling utterly ridiculous, but she didn't exactly have a better plan. "You have to let me up," she urged and leaned in to suck on his earlobe.</p><p> </p><p>"Just five more minutes, girl," he murmured, head turning slightly, arm loosening from her body before he passed out again. She quickly climbed off him, legs shaking and sex burning. She took a deep breath to collect herself. When she chanced another glance, he was still dead to the world.</p><p> </p><p>" Weirdo," she muttered eyeing the rest of the six pack but decided against it. She quickly changed into the spare clothes and grabbed only the purse and the gun before heading for the door. She passed his jacket and felt her fingers twitch. Something in her snapped at the thought of the vampire being so out of it and the source of so much weird inner turmoil for her. It was a risk, but it only took a few seconds and the lipstick that was in the guard's purse to leave a fun souveneir for him to find. She would have loved to have grabbed her bag and stocked up with the supplies they’d provided, but her idiocy had killed all her spare time. <em>I’ll be gone soon, anyway. By tonight I’ll be out of town. </em>She paused and chanced another look at him. “Why did it have to be this way?” Something about how oblivious he was reinforced her frazzled nerves and hormones and she flipped him off as she crept to the door. "I hope you're happy...now I've got to lose time because I have to find some place to jerk off in thanks to you!" she snapped before running down the stairs. </p><p> </p><p>*******************</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne's eyes fluttered and he frowned. <em>The hell is that shrieking? </em>He could have sworn he heard a thudding down the stairs, but they’d made sure that no one would bug them while they were keeping watch over their charge. He tried to sit up but had to pause, wincing. His head hurt, his jaw hurt, and the area between his legs just felt wrong. The vampire started to listen for intruders before turning his head to the rest of the bed...</p><p> </p><p>She was gone. How the hell had she broken through his influence? "That's what you get for being cocky," he sighed, rubbing his temple as he struggled to get up.  He hissed as his hormones suddenly caught up with him, not sure whether to gingerly cup himself or jerk off. Pain radiated through his body, but he was also unbearably turned on. <em>What the hell? Did she try to work some sort of spell on me? </em>It would serve him right if Paul’s conspiracy theory turned out to be true.</p><p> </p><p>His tongue darted over his lips and his eyes widened. <em>Alcohol.</em>He hadn't even touched the hidden stash under the sofa bed! <em>Blood? The hell was she up to?</em>He sat up, gritting his teeth against the flare of fire in his cock and felt as if he was slamming into a wall as his brain caught up with the rest of him. The images that had been half-floating around in his consciousness right before waking, all that he had attributed to some fucked-up dream because of the conversation before he had fallen asleep...</p><p>           </p><p>It became painfully obvious she had not only found the beer but gotten into it, as well as lifted the change of clothes and the rest of the prescription. He winced and rubbed his jaw. She had actually been on him. And he’d liked it, or rather the irritation came from not being able to properly attend to things. He groaned, head falling into his hands. "This is not happening," he muttered, rubbing his temples. "It's only a bodily reaction," he added for self-reassurance.  He couldn't remember everything, but there had been a boldness that he never would have expected...and the self-deprecation...and she had mentioned she was leaving. Tonight. "Fuck!" he snarled, jumped to his feet, and immediately regretted it. "I don't have time for this!" he groaned, but he had to know. If she had cut it off or something, he damn well wanted to see for himself.</p><p> </p><p>He breathed a sigh of relief when all of his anatomy came into view. "Thank fuck," he muttered before carefully pushing himself back in. He couldn't think clearly with how the pent up testosterone was coursing through his body at full force. At the same time it felt so utterly, completely off. Or did it only feel wrong because he hadn’t been able to do anything about it? Cursing under his breath, Dwayne ran for the stairs. He wouldn’t be able to catch up to her, but maybe they could still stop her.</p>
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<a name="section0017"><h2>17. Catch Me if You Can</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The boys regroup and plans are put into action</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>David knew it couldn't be good the moment he looked up and saw Dwayne tearing towards them. "What's wrong? Why aren't you at Max’s?"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne swallowed, glancing at the curious looks from Marko and Paul, the latter not quite able to meet his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"I was. And she was fine all day, but-"</p><p> </p><p>"You went completely under," David finished, then blinked. "What the fuck happened to you?"</p><p> </p><p>"What?" the dark-haired lost boy asked, glancing at the sudden snickers that the others tried to hide. </p><p> </p><p>"Um...dude, got something on your coat," Paul offered, pulling the item off his back and showing it to him. Dwayne's eyes narrowed at the inscription "Not as big as it looks" written across the back in bright pink lipstick.</p><p> </p><p>"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" he growled.</p><p> </p><p>"It means you have a small cock!" Paul explained with just a little too much enthusiasm.</p><p> </p><p>"I do not!" Dwayne snarled, quickly looking to see if anyone had heard the blond's loud mouth.</p><p> </p><p>"Well I don't know, I've never looked," Paul retorted, shrugging nonchalantly. His eyes were sparking with just a slight hint of glee and malice. Nothing worse than locker room jabs, but it was still unexpected.  "And even if you did it's not a bad thing-"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne grit his teeth, refusing to clash after the previous night and all the weirdness that had followed."Paul-"</p><p> </p><p>"I mean, I like being hung myself-"</p><p> </p><p>"Paul-"</p><p> </p><p>"But every issue of Cosmo says that it's what you do with it that counts-"</p><p> </p><p>"<strong><em>Paul</em></strong>!!" Dwayne growled, hands gripping the other vampire round the neck.</p><p> </p><p>The blond leaned back his head and laughed, much to Dwayne's chagrin. "So things can rile you. Nice to know." He put a hand on Dwayne's shoulder. "Dude, chill. She's had her claws in all of us."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne sighed and fisted his hair. “I don’t know what her weird magnetism is, but I swear when I find her..."</p><p> </p><p>"We all have our reasons," David assured him, giving a meaningful look to Paul who suddenly quieted. "We're going to find her, believe me. "Are you okay?" he asked, frowning at Dwayne's frazzled state.</p><p> </p><p>"The little thing molested me," he admitted. The others looked at each other before busting into laughter.</p><p> </p><p>"Wait, what?" Paulie gasped, leaning against his bike for support. "I seriously don't think I heard you right. She's scared shitless of you-"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, well, apparently alcohol destroys her inhibitions," he growled, smirking at Paul's sudden discomfort under David's stare. "Happened in my daysleep. No clue how she got out from under the spell-</p><p> </p><p>"She was determined," David sighed. "It happens when someone has the fear of God put in them," he added softly. Paul had the decency to look embarrassed, but said nothing.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, well, she woke up and started spouting off, changed into the other set of clothes we got her, or at least I think I think she was half-naked-"</p><p> </p><p>"Bud, we are getting you an alarm clock. If a chick appears and gets anywhere near naked, you need to be awake for that!"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne rolled his eyes at Paul's banter, blinked at David's smirk. "What?"</p><p> </p><p>"Did she..."</p><p> </p><p>"No! She left me hanging. I had to get over here to tell you. Fuck, I'm damn sore," he complained, hands curling into fists, doing everything in their power to stay away from his groin.</p><p> </p><p>"Calm down. What the hell is that on your neck?" David frowned.</p><p> </p><p>"My neck?" Dwayne repeated, pulling his hair away. Of all his aches and pains, the pulse in the side of his neck had been dull and easy to ignore. Once David mentioned it, though, it throbbed with a vigor all its own. "Can't see it."</p><p> </p><p>"Here, right on the side," David offered. "It's healing fast but..." He quickly clamped his mouth shut and tried to hold in the laughter. </p><p> </p><p>"What, what is it?!"</p><p> </p><p>"Man, that's one hell of a hickey," Marko offered, grinning broadly.</p><p> </p><p>"<strong><em>What?!</em></strong>" Even Dwayne had been unaware that he could shout that loud up to that point. He clawed at his hair, trying to feel what exactly Marko was talking about.</p><p> </p><p>"It looks like she tried to take a chunk out of ya, man," Marko elaborated and gave a low whistle. "You can still see the teeth marks."</p><p> </p><p>"She is going to get it," Dwayne vowed through clenched teeth.</p><p> </p><p>"The way you're talking she'll get it from every possible angle," David muttered, smirking at the glare he received from Dwayne and the irritated look that came from Paul. </p><p> </p><p>"She does know that's considered hard core foreplay among our kind, right? That she's just asking for Dwayne to stake a claim?" Marko asked and the others turned to him. "Well, she does write for us."</p><p> </p><p>"I'm betting she doesn't, or didn't think of that," David snickered. "Man, she has no clue what she started," he laughed, urged on by the unamused and almost miserable look on Dwayne's face. “We’re just teasing. It’s probably nothing.”</p><p> </p><p>"Damn. I wonder how I could get her to bite me," Paul sighed. It would have sounded wistful had it not been for the scheming look on his face.</p><p> </p><p>"Go up and stick your hand in her mouth, she'd probably be happy to help," Dwayne snapped, hand still on his neck.</p><p> </p><p>"Nah, I don't wanna chance triggering that knee. I'd like to keep both my balls," Paul shot back, patting his friend on the back. "We'll get her, dude.  It'll be okay. Eventually we'll find her."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne's eyes widened at the comment. "Shit, I almost forgot. We've got no time to lose,"</p><p> </p><p>"What do you mean?" David asked.</p><p> </p><p>"I did hear enough. She's planning to jump town tonight. Going to rob the coffee place and make a run for it."</p><p> </p><p>"Fuck," Marko cursed, shaking his head. "Did she say when?"</p><p> </p><p>"No, I woke up when she was falling down the stairs. I think she's been drinking all afternoon, that's what it tastes like," Dwayne added.</p><p> </p><p>"Why the hell do you get to have all the fun? Why not me, if it had been me I'd have woken up and we'd have her and she wouldn't be able to walk right now, let alone run away," Paul complained.</p><p> </p><p>"You know very well why, hotshot," David growled. "Part of the reason she's skipping town is your little drama."</p><p> </p><p>"I apologized, didn't I?" Paul muttered, digging for a cigarette.</p><p> </p><p>"Not to her, and even then that doesn't bring her back. We've got to move fast.” David gave Paul a long, assessing look. "Do you think you can redeem yourself if I give you another chance?"</p><p> </p><p>"What?!" Dwayne hissed. </p><p> </p><p>"He's the best one for it," David said softly.  "Like it or not, he's the one that can pull things off." He turned to Paul, raising a brow. "Can you control yourself if I let you go check this out?"</p><p> </p><p>"I...yeah. Yeah, I'm better now," Paul reassured him. "But you wanna do that plan?" </p><p> </p><p>"I don't think we have a choice," David replied. </p><p> </p><p>Paul nodded and hopped on his bike. "Consider it done, bro. I'll take care of it." Without a yell into the night, he revved his engine and headed off down the strip.</p><p> </p><p>"You just signed her death sentence," Dwayne whispered. </p><p> </p><p>"No. He just needed to calm down and realize that he's still the same guy he always was. He'll be alright," David assured him and gave a long glance sideways at his packmate. Dwayne's face was tight and his whole body looked clenched. On the one hand it wasn't funny at all, but on the other, things could get very entertaining very fast.</p><p> </p><p>********************</p><p>Paul killed the engine in the alley behind the coffee place, quickly pulled out his switchblade, and examined the premises. The place had just changed ownership and had only reopened that weekend. Usually it was closed Mondays, which was probably why she was attempting it now.  It wasn't in her to deliberately put someone in danger, though if pressed she might get desperate, and he hadn't exactly helped with things. <em>Can’t fuck this up again. Too much is on the line. I can do this. I can face her and be okay.</em>His eyes narrowed at the thought of that purple bruise on Dwayne's neck and pushed his irritation down. <em>Fuck yeah, I can.</em></p><p> </p><p>David was right. The times changing, and it was a hell of a fine line to tip things in their favor. It was up to him now, and he wasn't about to screw it up, not if they valued their current lifestyle. They couldn't afford another mishap, and if things did tip in their favor, he wasn't about to waste an opportunity. He had half an inkling of what David had planned, and he wanted to salvage his chances. The leader sure wasn't interested, and Marko was no competition, but Dwayne...if it came between the two of them, at this point things would probably not go in his favor simply because of all Dwayne had suffered that afternoon. Plus that thing where he had tried to kill her. <em>I don’t even know how I feel, but I’m not about to lose.</em></p><p> </p><p>But first things first. </p><p> </p><p>Getting in the door wasn't much of a problem. Places of business didn't really qualify in the invitation-necessary category unless they were deliberately banned. And though the last owner hated him...He smirked as he walked inside. The new owner wouldn't be a problem at all.</p>
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<a name="section0018"><h2>18. Runaway</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>In her clumsy attempt to get funds and get out of Santa Carla, Jinny runs into the last person she ever expected. </p><p>or</p><p>Welcome to my PLOT TWIST</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jinny steeled herself, forcing several deep breaths into her lungs. <em>I can do this. Just get it over with. </em>She wasn't feeling her best and the alcohol still left her feeling a little too relaxed, but she had to have money to get the hell out of Santa Carla. <em>At least it’s closed tonight. If I can’t get into the safe, there may at least be something in the register. </em>She hoped. There were about a million ways things could go wrong, but she felt better knocking over a closed store than actively trying to threaten people. <em>And if it doesn’t work, I’m fucked for life, end of story.</em></p><p>With a slow resolve she went into the back alley, easily picking the lock on the door. She’d bee vaguely aware that the place had changed hands in the past few weeks, but hadn’t dared go in enough to really get more than a cursory feel for the situation. The others had mentioned it, though, which gave her more of a leg up than with anyplace else. After a few moments of holding her breath, she relaxed. Apparently, the new owners didn't believe in alarms. She rolled her eyes at that stupidity and slunk inside, too intent on her task to notice the small alarm box and the cut wires inside the door. </p><p>She made it through the back storage area and came into the main room, frowning in the dark as she tried to think of where the damn safe would be. "There has to be an office or something," she mused, slowly walking between tables and booths, dully aware of the counter and a few terminals that offered computer time rental to those who didn’t bring their laptops. She hissed when her leg knocked against the back of a couch and redirected her path. She had to pause several times when the blackness seemed too claustrophobic, the vertigo of recent-recovery too intense.  Her hip bumped against the corner of a table and she cursed, clamping a hand over her mouth before she realized how completely stupid that was since there was no one to hear her. “You’re too wound up. Stop being stupid,” she chided herself.</p><p>She made it exactly three steps before she heard shuffling. "Stop right there," a low voice commanded. Jinny gasped and jerked towards it, her hand on the gun. That got caught in her waistband. </p><p><em>No. No, no, no! Run, do something! </em>She couldn’t get her body to move fast enough. The lights came on and she winced at the sudden brightness before her eyes tried to focus on the figure in front of her.</p><p>"Man, it's a busy night for being closed. I've already chased away one asshole at the back door," the owner muttered.</p><p><em>Fuck. No going back now. </em>The guy had a good deal of height on her and was solidly built. Time was of the essence and he was going down. Quickly she raised the gun and looked down the length of it at him.</p><p>"Open the safe. Now," she demanded, before her stomach suddenly twisted in on itself. <em>No way. It can’t be! </em>He was older, obviously, but still youngish and apparently doing well for himself. He’d cut his hair and dropped the punk look, but no matter how she tried to rationalize it, the face of Michael Emerson still looked back at her.</p><p>"You really want to do that?" he asked, too calm for his own good. Well he would be, he had battled vampires and come out alive.</p><p><em>How is that even possible? The Lost Boys are still alive! </em>Her brain struggled to make sense of the timeline issue. She’d never written him much, so she had no inkling as to why he’d still be in Santa Carla. It was yet one more reminder that she was a stranger and had no clue what was really going on.</p><p>“Wha? Hey!” She grunted and her hand shook at the sudden pressure on the gun.</p><p>Her head whipped up and Jinny blanched upon realizing that while she was lost in her head, Michael had come right up and grabbed the other end of the weapon. "You don't want to do this," he told her.</p><p>"Open the damn safe!" she yelled, though it sounded too much like a plea and her throat rippled with pain from the harsh volume. She clenched her eyes shut and attempted to still the sudden surge of nausea. </p><p>"Hey, it's okay," he soothed, one hand reaching for her shoulder.</p><p>She quickly jerked away. “Don’t touch me!”</p><p>"It's okay," he repeated, holding both hands where she could see them, face not giving a damn thing away. He had never been her favorite character, but there was something empathetic in his eyes as well as something terribly compelling. "I've been in bad situations, too. Why don't you let me help you?”</p><p>She made a face. "Nice try. You think I'm going to fall for that shit?"</p><p>"You really don't want to do this, I can see it in your eyes," he murmured, voice soft and comforting and almost reminiscent of home. There were slight age lines around his eyes and at the corners of his mouth, but his gaze radiated kindness that she hadn’t seen in a long time. It also showed a pity that infuriated her.</p><p>She drew in a shaky breath and shook her head. "You don't understand! I have to be out by tonight, out of town..I c-can't..." <em>Run! Shoot him! Do something!  </em>Jinny choked as the tears spilled out of her eyes and down her cheeks, only put up minimal effort as he took the gun out of her hand. "Dammit," she hissed.</p><p>"You wouldn't have done much damage, anyway," he said gently, a slight smile on his face. "The safety was on." The color drained from her face as she leaned in and saw that he was right. Of all the stupid mistakes to have made!</p><p>Her hand came up and she covered her face, trying to compose herself and not crumble at how wrong it had all turned. "Go ahead and call the cops. That's it, then," she sighed.</p><p>"Now why would I want to do that?" he asked, and she frowned and looked up at him like he wasn't quite getting what was going on.</p><p>"Because I just threatened you with a weapon and tried to rob you."</p><p>"Well yeah, but you didn't do a very good job," he replied and she bristled until she saw the disarming smile on his face. A smile that slowly turned to concern as he looked her over "Have you eaten well lately?"</p><p>She shrugged.<em>Wait til he’s distracted then run. You can go back into hiding. It’ll be okay.</em> "I do alright. " It was a lie but she had her pride. </p><p>"We all have hard times," he agreed, leaning against one of the tables, a thoughtful look on his face. "You know, once I grew up I became a decent judge of character," he admitted. "You get better after you've taken a long fall. And sometimes we all need a helping hand to get by. You seem decent, smart...you want a job?" She blinked, suddenly realizing how Lucy must have felt in Max's video shop.</p><p>"I...are you fucking insane?!" she blurted. "I come in to rob you and you offer me work? You don't even know me!"</p><p>Michael laughed and shook his head, idly passing the gun from one hand to the other. She didn't take her eyes off of it for a heartbeat, no matter how good the proposal was. "Nah, but I've always been willing to take risks. I need someone for the day shift. I'm still going through a lot of work trying to get this place back in order and I can’t afford to be closed more than I already am. The last owners nearly went bankrupt. There's a lot to deal with. I could use some help."</p><p>"I can't stay in town," she pleaded.</p><p>"Why not? What's the matter?" he asked, his face showing very clearly that he was getting the sense that something was very wrong. She wasn’t used to someone paying attention, had no idea what to do with that.</p><p><em>Don’t say it. It’s too much, even with who he is. Don’t involve him. </em>It was weird to hide the obvious, but something about the situation just felt off, and she couldn’t help but obey the instinct to not mention the boys. It was her problem, her situation, hers alone. She shrugged and felt her insides squirm at what he would say if he only knew. "I...can't explain it."</p><p>"I'm sure we can sort things out. If you're willing to be honest," he added with a knowing look.</p><p>Jinny bit her lip and looked up into his eyes, suddenly feeling the exhaustion, the hunger, the depression and longing for a helping hand that had been haunting her for weeks. She could be honest...to a point. "Okay," she whispered. “I can try.”</p><p>"Cool. Then let's put this thing away and work out the details," he murmured, taking the handgun and crossing to the back room, hand producing a ring of keys.  "Do you have a place to stay?" he called and she was dimly aware of the sound of a lock. When he returned his hands were empty. "You have any place to go?" She shook her head miserably. At least she looked half-decent after playing captive to the Lost Boys. It would have been worse had she shown up looking like the street rat she had turned into.</p><p>Michael paused as he considered her, choosing his words. "Let me take you home, at least until we can find you something else."</p><p>Her eyes narrowed to slits. "I'm not fucking you out of thanks if that's what you're thinking.”</p><p>He grinned, and she realized that he wasn't that bad looking even if he was probably ten years older than her by now, and he seemed to have a kind heart. "I wasn't offering. But you need a roof and a bed and someone to look after you. I know that look. You've been through hell," he told her.</p><p>She nodded, shaking again. <em>Something isn’t right. It’s too good. Don’t trust him. You can’t trust anybody. </em> She tried to thank him, tried to demure out of the situation, but couldn't get any words out around the lump in her throat. This new development was not anything she had ever considered, nor a plot twist she would have ever daydreamed. <em>It’s better than a shelter or being arrested or something. It’ll keep you away from the damn vampires. </em>It still felt like crossing a forbidden line, tempting as it was, and she had no idea what step in either direction to take.</p><p>Michael smiled and approached her almost how he would some cornered animal. That wasn't too far from what she was, anyway. She shuddered as his arm gently came around her and tried to pull away but found herself instead leaning against his shoulder, sobbing her eyes out.</p><p>"Hey, it's okay. It's going to be okay now," he soothed, stroking the back of her hair gently. "It won't happen all at once, but it'll be just fine," he said softly, rocking her until she quieted.</p>
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<a name="section0019"><h2>19. Behind Enemy Lines</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny settles in with Michael and tries to make sense of everything.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"It's not much, I know, but it's more than I thought I'd have by now," Michael admitted as he ushered Jinny into the apartment. It may not have been the Hilton but the fact she'd be staying in an actual building - not an alley, not a car park, garage, condemned store, dumpster, or parking lot – boggled her mind. She was going to sleep in an actual place of residence, and by invitation. Someone had actually invited her, wanted her there. For the first time since she’d woken up in Santa Carla, it felt like someone actually wanted her there, like she might be able to belong there.</p><p><em>Don’t get ahead of yourself. You don’t know him. He’s as much a stranger as the boys are. </em>It was painfully obvious it was Michael's place by the few, but familiar stuffed faces there to greet her. Somehow it wouldn't be quite the same without the random moose head on the wall or the beaver sitting on the coffee table.</p><p>Jinny bit her lip as she looked around, trying to talk around the lump that had taken up permanent residence in her throat. "It..it's beautiful," she whispered, blushing as she swiped at her eyes. "You don't have to do this," she added, turning to keep him in her field of vision.</p><p>He was still right beside her, smiling in soft amusement. "No, I don't have to. I want to." His voice was assuring, warm honey with just a smoky tint of something else. It was that something else that kept catching her attention and made her rethink just what she was doing. She didn't actually <em>know </em>Michael. From what she had seen in the movie, he was trustworthy, but this Santa Carla sure had more than a few surprises, so what was to say he wasn't a covert serial killer or something? Still, he had an apartment. And she didn't have to break in to stay there.</p><p><em>Don’t lose your edge. You can make this work for you. Use what you learned on the streets until you’re able to leave. </em>"But you don't even know me!" she protested and he shrugged.</p><p>"You learn to trust your feelings. And I had a good example," he added, deep brown eyes turning darker at his last words.</p><p>"Your mom," she agreed and caught herself, stiffening as he turned sharply.</p><p>"Yeah, that's right...how'd you know?" he asked as he came up to her. Too close, he was too close too fast and she stepped backwards, nearly running into the sofa. He noticed the odd reaction but said nothing, thankfully keeping his distance. </p><p>Jinny's head spun as she thought quickly, not aided by the silent beaver with the accusatory stare. "Usually that's the answer," she replied tightly, shrugging to try to dampen her nerves with forced casualness. The answer seemed to appease him and he relaxed. <em>You’ve got to be careful. You’re around people now. Around someone who could catch you. You’ve got to keep the both of you safe now. </em></p><p>"We'll have to get you some clothes and I'm not much of a cook," he admitted. She followed him through to the small kitchen, entering the room just in time to see him throw away a small pile of fast food cartons into the trash can. "But feel free to stay…" He trailed off and it took her a few moments to realize that he was fishing for a name.</p><p>"Oh, uh, Mary," she said. Her sarcastic wit hadn't been tarnished and took over on its own. "Mary Sue...the last name's not that important," Jinny mumbled and tried to ignore the rush of color on her face.<em>That is by far the most idiotic thing you’ve ever said. </em>It would serve as a reminder, though, a constant warning to keep her head.  It would take a while to get used to a fake name, but for some reason that something else, that smoke over his eyes set her just enough on edge. He would have to earn her trust and being nice wasn’t enough.</p><p>Michael nodded and by the look on his face he didn't believe her for a minute, but wasn't going to make an issue of it. "Nice," he added, lip twitching.</p><p>She nearly shot back with a comment about Star's name but reigned her tongue in at the last possible second. "Yeah, well, it's old fashioned and simple, but..." </p><p>"No, it works. It fits," he added quickly.</p><p><em>Lord, I hope not,</em>she thought, suppressing the shudder. It was one of those jokes that only she would get, but at least it would keep her entertained and be a reminder of where she was from. She needed that. She was quickly losing every other sense of self when it came down to doing what she could to get by. "You have no idea what a blessing this is," Jinny sighed, feeling so overwhelmed and out of place. "You have a very kind heart, Michael," she added.</p><p>He brushed the comment off with a wave of his hand. "Just doing what's right," he said softly, a slightly awkward look on his face that made him suddenly look like the teen he had been in the movie. "C'mon. We'll get you some food and you can clean up," </p><p>She devoured the reheated pizza, but to have actual warm food that she hadn't had to dig for, that someone hadn't already sampled previously...that was heaven.  He sat across from her at the table while she gorged, studying her as much as she did him. She tried to put out of her head what he probably thought of her. Even cleaned up she certainly wasn't what she had been, and she had never attracted looks on her best day way back when. It was why writing had appealed so much in some ways. She could be anyone, anything, and do whatever she pleased when she put pen to paper. She didn't have to focus on all her own shortcomings or how far she had yet to go. </p><p>He looked to be in his late twenties, possibly early thirties and was probably a few years older than she was. <em>How is that right, though, if the movie was in the eighties and it’s still the same year as it was back home? </em>Math had never been her strong point, and she decided to leave the thought for another time. He’d cut the hair and it made him look much more nondescript – for all she knew she <em>had</em>seen him before and just never made the connection.  He was dressed simply, favoring a grey band shirt and jeans, and while he wore an earring still it had been downgraded to a small hoop. There was an inherent goodness in him, that much was obvious. It made her want to trust him even while she struggled to remain cautious. But there was also that something tainted...not quite dark, but very grey. It was something deep inside him that had never quite healed, something that was visible in his eyes when the light was just right. Or maybe she was making that up and it was just the darker part there that all people had. </p><p><em>You’re a traitor to be sitting here with him. </em>Even though the Lost Boys had fed her, presumably been the ones to doctor her back to health, they were also the ones who had done it so she'd be healthy enough to take a great big chunk out of, if Paul's reaction was anything to go by. She spasmed slightly as she remembered those hate-filled, glowing eyes, struggled to put the memory out of her mind and convince herself it was a nightmare. Fat chance.</p><p>"You alright?" Michael asked, his hand moving forward on the table as he leaned in. </p><p>Jinny nodded, swallowing a mouthful so hard that it hurt going all the way down. "Yeah...yeah, just need to slow down, I guess. Sorry," she murmured, ducking her head against those inquisitive brown eyes.</p><p>As he looked at her with all that kindness, she couldn't deny that she felt a sick smugness in her at the situation. She'd make her own way, find her own friends. She didn't need the vampires and she had run into the one person who could probably help her get rid of them if it came to it.</p><p>So why did that thought and this turn of events make her feel so nauseous?  She struggled to reign in her thoughts, frowned when she realized that she was looking at Michael's hand and the lack of ring. <em>God, what the hell do I care. When did I become such a damn opportunist? I’m not like the other girls here,</em>she mused, shaking her head slightly. It struck her that even that was a toxic line of thought. For all her irritation and jealous, it wasn’t like she <em>knew</em>any of the other women that had made her roll her eyes the past few weeks. There had been good examples around here and there – the daughter of a couple who owned a diner and snuck her carry out, a couple of college kids who had let her pal around with them one night when she could still pass herself off as a tourist. <em>Maybe I’m part of the problem. </em>No, she really didn’t want her brain to go there, not with everything else she had to process.</p><p>"I know some things are none of my business," he was saying and Jinny raised her eyes back to his face. "But if you need to talk..." he offered before sipping obscenely strong coffee from a chipped mug. </p><p>"There are some things I don't dare tell anyone," she sighed. "Things I wish.."</p><p>"You could forget?" he finished, but there was no smile now, only a very empathetic look in his eyes. "I've been there. When you're ready, I'm here." She nodded, let her eyes wander to the pictures stuck on the fridge door. </p><p>"I'm not much of a frame on a mantel guy yet," he chuckled, standing to pluck one from the collection. "That's my mom, there," he told her as he returned, his thumb hovering above Lucy's face even though Jinny could have picked her out of a crowded room.</p><p>"She looks so sweet," she murmured with a tinge of wistfulness in her own voice. Like Michael, like the Lost Boys, like all of them, they vaguely resembled their actor counterparts but looked more...them, if she could believe it. It was like the difference between photos developed cheaper with the grocery store's printer and those sent out to the real developing places back in the day.</p><p>"Yeah, she is. A little overprotective at times, but sometimes you need to be, I guess. That's my Grandpa," he went on. "He passed on about a year ago."</p><p>"I'm so sorry," she whispered, feeling a genuine loss to know the old man was dead. He would have been a fun one to meet. Michael shrugged for lack of something to say, the boy showing through the man momentarily. "He must have been a hell of a guy, though."</p><p>Michael grinned slightly, nodding. "Yeah, he was. Totally eccentric. The stuff in the living room? Well, the animals were all his work. For some reason it just made sense to keep a piece or two...a little Texas Chainsaw Massacre for the home environment," he added wryly. </p><p>"Soon to be a part of Martha Stewart's catalogue everywhere," she added, smirking as his laughter increased. "How bout him? " she asked, pointing to a kid that must have been Sam. Even though he seemed a little different looking, the clothes were a dead giveaway.</p><p>"My little brother, Sammy," he affirmed, and she grinned at the youth who looked slightly older, but was still mugging proudly for the camera. "Those two with him are his best friends, Edgar and Allen Frog."</p><p>True to form, they were in camo, stern and serious even though it looked to be some sort of picnic or vacation. "They look…interesting," she managed, glancing up in time to see him smirk.</p><p>"They're something else. Well, I guess they still are. I don't hear from them, Sammy does. They went and enlisted in the Marines. Wanted to do all they could to protect American soil from...evil forces," he finished carefully, smirking at her raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I know. We're all placing bets to see how long it takes for them to get discharged," he added.</p><p>She laughed softly. "Does your family live round here, then?" It would be good to have a support system, anything familiar that wasn't gunning to break her neck. </p><p>"Nah, not any more. After Grandpa died Mom got a job in Florida. I stayed behind to sort of get out on my own," he admitted, eyes once again straying to the table top. “I grew up in Phoenix, but this place has an odd attachment for me.”</p><p>"Must be hard without them," she whispered, idly playing with the mug he had given her. It was all she could really do with it since she didn't dare touch the contents after the first sip.</p><p>"Only sometimes," he replied, glancing up with a definitive smile and she grinned.</p><p>"Yeah. But there are times when you realize how good it is to have someone around. My family's all gone," she added, sighing. It wasn’t quite a lie and would be the easiest explanation she could give.</p><p>"All of them?" he asked, clearly startled. She nodded.</p><p>"Every one. I'm completely alone." She looked down dumbly as he took her hand and squeezed it softly.</p><p>"Not anymore," he reassured her. She had always found his sincerity in the movie so much like a dumb hound dog or too forced. Now, though, in person, it was welcoming.  In the back of her mind she yelled at herself for finding reason to blush at the contact. She tried to focus back on the picture. </p><p>"She's pretty," she managed, nodding to a familiar girl wrapped around Michael in the photograph. At least Star was still around, that way she would have a ready-made excuse to behave herself. She didn't need to get her hopes up or screw around with a world that was fine without her existence.</p><p>"Yeah," Michael murmured, eyes clouding. "She was amazing. The love of my life at the time. It didn't last. We were kids and she had a lot of issues, had to rebuild her life. But she was special to me at the time, still is," he added, sighing. She hung on his words, breath stilling. "The last I heard, she was killed in some kind of car wreck not too long ago." Jinny's stomach went uneasy and she turned her hand in his, squeezed his palm gently.</p><p>"No one deserves all of that," she managed. "Not you, not Star..." she trailed on without thinking. "So did Laddie go back to...shit," she gulped when his hand suddenly pulled away, his eyes startled and  cold as dead wood as they bored into her face.</p><p>"How did you know? What do you know?" he added, voice hardening and she got the strong impression that this welcome might be very short-lived.</p><p>Jinny pushed her chair away from the table, trying to gauge if she could get around him to the door. There was no way; he was in better shape than her, bigger than her, and now he wanted answers. "I...I just, well, I mean people talk on the Boardwalk!" she blurted, hoping it would be enough.</p><p>He nodded, muscles relaxing. "Yeah...there are a lot of legends and rumors out there. But you can't believe everything you hear," he added, though it was more of an afterthought. He still watched her warily but those eyes weren't quite as harsh. "And Laddie was sent back home."</p><p>She nodded, swallowing hard. "Ah. I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"</p><p>"It's okay," he replied, though she could tell she might have just cost herself dearly. "Let me show you the guest room."</p><p>"Thanks," she mumbled, standing to follow him. <em>Better keep my damn door locked. </em></p><p>"No problem. I have some old sweats you can use for now and we'll take you shopping tomorrow."</p><p>"I'm fine, seriously," she mumbled, picking at the sleeve of the long T-shirt she had taken from the video store. The thought that the vampires had bothered to provide her with clothes still confused her. It didn’t fit with Paul’s attempt on her life or Dwayne playing warden. Nothing fit into a cohesive narrative lately.</p><p>"Well, you can't wear that every day. You're going to need some stuff," Michael pointed out, and seemed happy to shift his focus from his past to problem solving. "If it makes you feel better, you can pay me back once you start working.” It was like there was a sudden wall between them, but he was still trying to do the right thing. It was the weirdest thing she had ever encountered.</p><p>"Michael, why are you doing this? You're feeding me, housing me, clothing me, getting me out of trouble, giving me a job, even now that I've raised your suspicions. What am I to you? There are nice people but this is too much."</p><p>"You need it," he said simply, shrugging. "And sometimes we all need help, all need a place to belong. I've been there. I remember my mom telling stories of when she tried to run away. Sometimes we all need help." He gave her a long, searching look before sighing. "And forget about that before. There are some things I just don't like to remember, is all. It's not your fault," he added, smiling softly. "Now come on, let's get you settled in."</p><p>Jinny nodded, dazed. <em>Either I’ve found the only nice guy in Santa Carla or the other shoe is going to flatten me when it drops.</em>She knew very well she had to be careful, couldn’t fully believe him, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to put a little bit of trust in him for the time being.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0020"><h2>20. Settling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny slowly adapts to life with Michael, but what happens when Paul comes to collect her? And can Michael handle discovering what all she knows?</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So THANK YOU to all the kudos and comments - for reals!</p><p>A heads up that this chapter seems to lead things in a certain direction. I'd ask you to trust the tags and the plot twists and just roll with it for now. This is definitely a story where you have to roll with things for a while and just trust that they'll get to where they need to go. And that's all I'm gonna say about that *grin*</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Most of it is just taking payment, keeping an eye on everything. We’ve got enough baristas who stayed on to get by for right now. I've got people that come in to do maintenance and the like. And there'll be others to help out if something goes down, so no worries about your skills," Michael had explained, shrugging when he had shown her the ropes weeks ago. "I just need someone I can trust to keep an eye on things since most of my crew are pretty young. So that's pretty much it. Not hard. You'll be fine."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny had nodded, slowly gaining confidence but still overwhelmed. It had been a while since she had had a real job and she didn't want to fuck this up. She couldn't afford to fuck it up. Hell, it was still a transition wearing new clothes and underwear she didn't have to wash every night in a public sink. And yet Michael had supported her every moment of the way.</p><p> </p><p>"You'll be fine," he had added softly. </p><p> </p><p>And she was. It was hard to believe, but she was fine. It had been a month or so without incident, without having to go back on the streets, without seeing the Lost Boys. There was a bizarre shred of disappointment at the last bit, but she brushed it off as being delusional. She’d gotten used to being on hyper alert, used to the cycle, used to the only ones she knew giving chase. She absolutely didn’t miss them or anything. She wasn't used to being taken care of, so her brain had revolted.</p><p> </p><p>And Michael was oddly okay. Whatever greyness he had to him didn’t extend to any weird habits or terrifying attempts on her life or body. If anything, he gave her the space she needed and was respectful if she wanted time to herself.  She didn't see him too much during the day. He was always off running errands or taking care of everything that came with a new business. They had the evenings and he always came and got her right as her shift ended, right as the sun went down. He had never tried to come after her with a knife while doing dishes, never peeked in on her while she was changing. He didn’t quite treat her like an older brother, but he wasn’t putting out vibes for anything else. He was an honest-to-goodness gentleman. Once she got over the animals in the apartment, everything had settled down to a weird type of normal. </p><p>He didn’t push her on her past or prod her to a certain future, either. He had done all he promised and only taken a minimal amount out of her paycheck when she had insisted on it. </p><p> </p><p><em>I need to stop this weird Stockholm syndrome habit toward anyone from the movie. </em>She wrinkled her nose at those thoughts that she seemed to get more and more, but it did make sense. He was intelligent, strong, a genuinely kindguy...and she had to admit that he was attractive in a down-home, big brother type way. Maybe not as sensual or hot as...</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Mary, you doing okay?” Andrea, a student at the local college asked as she brushed around the counter with a tray for one of the tables. “This is for that group in the corner. They’re probably gonna give you crap, I had to redo the redhead’s special order.”</p><p> </p><p>Jin snorted. “One of those, huh? No prob, I’ll handle it.” That had come as a surprise, too – that she could actually start to get along with some of the people on Michael’s staff, and genuinely like them. <em>Maybe I came in with way too many expectations from fanfic. And survival made me way too me versus the world. </em>“But yeah, yeah, I’m good-” She froze as she followed Andrea’s path to a table in the corner. The girls she’d purposefully spread rumors to chattered away, blissfully ignorant as they giggled over who knew what. “Oh.”</p><p> </p><p>The younger woman caught the look on her face and took the tray back. “Eh, just ignore them. They come in every so often, I’m used to them by now. Obnoxious as hell, but it keeps money coming in. I’ll deal with them,” Andrea soothed when she saw the look on Jinny’s face.</p><p> </p><p>“You sure?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, no prob. You know them or something?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not really, but it seems like every time I have a bad day, they’re there.”</p><p> </p><p>Andrea snorted. “Yeah, that sounds about right. I guess not everyone can be wannabe writers curled up with their screenplay, but I get so tired about hearing them rant about their next conquests. I wish I had that kind of energy and social life, but work and school keep the nose to the grindstone. Let me handle them.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks, I appreciate it. I’ll help you with your paper on Bradury if you want later on.” Andrea flashed her a thumbs up and took off with the tray. She gave the table a long look, winced when Tabitha obviously tried to start shit with Andrea, who took it all in stride. Knowing the student, she’d probably stuck her finger in the drink or something. <em>What the hell would any of the boys see in them? No. Bad. Stop being catty. You know very well they’re not for you, anyway. </em>Jinny shook her head hard, tried to focus on keeping an eye on the register. She had thought her hormones and complexes had packed up and migrated once she had escaped from being trapped with an unconscious Dwayne, but it seemed as if they had just required a mini-vacation. </p><p> </p><p>She had no right to complain. Life was good. A little boring, but she could easily get used to that. Though she still had no clue how she would ever get back home, or if she even wanted to. <em>Maybe this could be enough. It’s stability. I can move on eventually, but maybe I’m supposed to learn something from this</em>Oddly, she was beginning to accept her new life along with the possibility that she'd never get back. And maybe it was easier in the end, because if she did go back it would be one hell of an adjustment on that end, too.</p><p> </p><p>She glanced up as the door opened, grinned in surprise as Michael slipped through the door. "What's the occasion, it's still light outside!" she joked.</p><p> </p><p>"Barely. Came to brighten a rainy day," he teased, tugging off his sunglasses. "How's it going?"</p><p> </p><p>"Easy day, not much chaos in the trenches," she replied, wincing when one of the girls at Andrea’s table started screeching about how she had asked for no-fat milk and no sugar and if she broke out it would be all their fault. “Well, until now, at least.”</p><p> </p><p>Michael rolled his eyes. “She can handle it. Why do you think I stopped working the counter? I got sick of those girls staring at me all the time and making weird come ons.”</p><p> </p><p>She choked. “For real?”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s like their way of passing the time. Fucking creepy,” he sighed stepping back to the office to grab her coat and purse. "I’m sure they’re nice deep down, but they’re going to drive off business if they keep this off.”</p><p> </p><p>“Eh, you could date a couple of them-” Jinny broke off laughing at his dark look. “What, they’re legal!”</p><p> </p><p>“I’d rather ride my bike into a wall. I have nothing in common with someone like that,” he retorted and Jinny fought the small smile.</p><p> </p><p>“So how’s your day been going?" she asked to change the subject.</p><p> </p><p>He shrugged and handed her the retrieved items. "Not too shabby. Dealt with some issues with the tech company but the store's doing well. And I went down to the Boardwalk and had a talk with my friend in security," he admitted, his grin sheepish yet so very proud of itself. </p><p> </p><p>"Why?" she asked, brows knitting together.</p><p> </p><p>"The head of security's a family friend. I went down and explained that you were in a good home now and had everything sorted out and wouldn't be posing a problem to any tourists," he explained as he leaned over the counter lazily. During a recent late-night talk she had finally started to share some of the stories from her weeks on the streets. She had expected to be lectured or cut off short or something, but he had listened intently, even angrily at all she had had to go through. Well all she was willing to tell him, anyway. </p><p> </p><p>"You'll be able to walk down the streets during the day as easy as you please, as long as you don't bite anymore guards" he replied, grinning at her shocked face. That tidbit had entertained the hell out of him. There was still something gentle in his eyes, and she was touched that he took it to heart that she was terrified to be out after dark.  He had never completely asked why, but there was still that gentleness, that willingness to humor her just as he had with the obvious fake name. </p><p> </p><p>"I...how can I thank you?" she whispered, shaking her head dumbly as she tugged on  her jacket. </p><p> </p><p>"It's no trouble, I know a lot of great people who can get things done," he explained modestly, though there was the hint of a suppressed joke in his eyes. "As for thanking me, how ‘bout coming out with me tonight? I can actually show you around without worryina bout you being arrested. We can grab something to eat, go down to the beach."</p><p> </p><p>She winced. The guards wouldn’t be a problem, but other things lurked on the Boardwalk, and for all she knew they lurked all over Santa Carla after dark, looking for her. "Michael, I don't know..."</p><p> </p><p>He chest tightened with the suppressed sigh and his face took on a patient look. "C’mon, Mary. You can't be afraid forever. You should be able to enjoy yourself! Nothing will happen. I promise," he urged.</p><p> </p><p>"You can't promise me that," she sighed, staring down at her hands. It was amazing that her fingernails had started to grow again, as well as the skin around them. She had taken for granted all the little blessings she had once had after her first week or so in Santa Carla. </p><p> </p><p>"Mary." She looked up at him, felt her stomach flip as those intense eyes drew her in. She felt herself struggle momentarily with the decision. "Please?"</p><p> </p><p>"I..” <em>You’ve got to move on with your life at some point. You could do worse. You’re allowed to have friends. You’re allowed a life. </em>“Oh, what the hell," she sighed. She hadn't had much fun in the damn town anyway, might as well live it up when she could.</p><p> </p><p>"That's the spirit. Let's go, Andrea’s capable and Dawn will be in soon to help with the evening crowd," he assured her as he pushed open the door. She smiled, thanked him as she slipped through, then glanced down the street. He fumbled with his jacket and made a pained face. "Shit, I must have left my keys and wallet inside. Stay here, I won't be a moment."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny frowned, shoulders tightening. "But-" It was too late. He had ducked through the door. She could easily follow him, but it would only stress how freaked out she was, and then he'd keep pressing for details. She watched the window intently and pressed her lips together. It wouldn't be long, unless he was one of those dudes who liked to talk.</p><p> </p><p>She watched through the window as someone sitting in an overstuffed arm chair caught his eye and he turned with a large grin. Damn. That was the trouble with trustworthy people: they always had friends. </p><p> </p><p>"Well lookie here! What's a renegade like you doing in an open area like this?"</p><p> </p><p>Jinny whirled and almost fell back against the front window. <em>Shit. Why does it have to be him?!</em>At that point she would've taken David over Paul. Her face pressed sideways towards the glass as she tried to see if Michael was anywhere near the door. A low chuckle caught her attention.</p><p> </p><p>"Will you relax, girl? If I was here to kill you it'd be done by now." The casualness with which the blond said it made her look right into his face. Paul wasn't even phased by her glare.</p><p> </p><p>"Then you obviously didn't do it right the first time," she growled, slowly bending her knees. If she was going to get around him or even hope to incapacitate him she'd have to work fast. </p><p> </p><p>He had the decency to actually wince. "Yeah, look, I didn't mean that," he sighed, fumbling in his pockets for a cigarette as he leaned up against the window beside her. It was bizarre and unreal. He’d tried to kill her and there he was, looking like he was ready to catch up with a long-lost friend.</p><p> </p><p>"Didn't mean it?!"</p><p> </p><p>He gave her a sideways look. "Well if I had, you wouldn't be here right now!"</p><p> </p><p>"Sure seems like you meant it at the time!" she growled, shuffling sideways away from him. He gave an easy shrug as he placed the cig between his lips, produced a lighter and snapped it with ease. She would not be awed by such a stupid gesture, no matter how graceful. If anything she should have been screaming like hell. Yet all she could do was stare.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, well, you're not the only one that acts on impulses," he muttered softly. "I didn't mean it and I'd take it back if I could."</p><p> </p><p><em>It’s a trick. </em>Jinny shook her head. It had to be some sort of tactic. He couldn't actually be apologizing for something that serious. It wasn't like he had eaten her last cupcake. It was her fucking life he had tried to snuff out! And yet he obviously meant what he was saying, or wanted her to believe he did. <em>He’s so confusing.</em>"So if you're not here to wreak vengeance, then why..." she murmured, glancing into the shop behind her.</p><p> </p><p>"You might as well chill. He won't come out till we're done," Paul assured her, tilting his head to blow smoke towards the sky. She'd seen so many people do that and look just as lost in the scenery as he did, but on him it looked...different. She needed to run, but she couldn’t help but take him in. He was too pretty, yet exuded masculine confidence. <em>It’s just because I used to write him. Writer fixation. That’s all it is. That better be all it is. </em>It wasn't right to be infatuated with her potential murderer, no matter how cute he was. Or else her life had gone from some warped story to an all-out Lifetime movie. "And I'm here to talk you into coming back."</p><p> </p><p>"Coming back?!" she scoffed. "Where? To the store?"</p><p> </p><p>Again with that shrug, though she got the feeling that his eyes weren't really as distant as they seemed. No, he was the type to feel every little change around him. He would be able to move faster than she could even breathe, whether it be to slit her throat, gut her, kidnap her, or slam her up against the wall of the building and have his wicked way with her. His lip twitched slightly at her blush but he kept his eyes on the passing tourists. "To us. Wherever. We wanna talk to you."</p><p> </p><p>She couldn't keep the laughter in. "Just how stupid do you think I am?!"</p><p> </p><p>He turned so quickly that the first thing that made her aware of his transition was that his hair was brushing her cheek. She tried to dart towards the street but his hand clamped over her wrist, his grip solid though not painful. "How stupid do you think we are? We're not going to give up until we know what's going on."</p><p> </p><p>"You're not going to give up till I'm dead!" she hissed, purposefully staring at the sidewalk. The barest tickle of his hair on her cheek was nearly driving her to distraction. The worst thing she could do next was to turn and actually look at him. "Why the hell didn't you do it if you're so adamant about my evil ways?"</p><p> </p><p>His full lips curled up in a lazy smile. "I had some sense talked into me. "</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head. "Uh-huh. More like it's supposed to be a group effort to completely destroy me. No way."</p><p> </p><p>She could see his frown in her peripheral vision. His face was so sure that she did turn to look into his eyes and instantly regretted it. It had to be some sort of vampire power. She'd never get lost in a regular person's eyes that easily. They were a delicate gray-blue and far too keen for her comfort. "More like we want to know just exactly what you're doing and what you're holding over us. Who knows, with that kind of power maybe we can work out an agreement," he murmured, the grey-blue of his eyes pinning her hazel ones as easily as his hand held her back against the wall. </p><p> </p><p><em>So that’s it. Of course. </em>They wanted her as some sort of good luck charm or ace up the sleeve. And there was no way she could be that, even if she wanted to. She was as good as dead either way, yet she still couldn't shut her mouth.</p><p> </p><p>"And why should I tell you when I can make your lives so much of a living hell," she snapped, forcing a cocky smile onto her face. </p><p> </p><p>Paul's lip quirked again and she willed herself not to be utterly fascinated by that gesture. <em>Don’t stare at his mouth, just don’t. </em>She would not stare at his mouth because then she'd be wondering what it would be like to feel it on hers. And that just led to all sorts of trouble.</p><p> </p><p> "See, you haven't really done anything yet...that's what makes us wonder," he admitted, waving the cigarette like a baton as he talked. </p><p> </p><p>"What about that trouble you've been having on the Boardwalk?" she pointed out with a smirk. </p><p> </p><p>"You mean because of those chicks you talked to? Smart, but it wasn't because of some weird power you have," he shot back, grinning as she deflated. "And if you are that in control of things, why go and get yourself sick? You looked like you'd been through all seven layers of hell without a shower in between," he added. "If that's what it takes to be some sort of almighty writer, no wonder you're the only one to check in on us. No one else is that suicidal."</p><p> </p><p>            Every bit of Jinny bristled and she struggled to get her wrist back. No such luck. "I have my own ways. I’m very method." He snorted. Some phrase recalled itself in the back of her mind and she tilted her chin up defiantly, amazed at her guts as she reached up with her free hand and held his face. His eyebrows raised and she could have sworn he moved in slightly but he said nothing, though she suspected a reply lay just on the other side of that mouth. His cheek was both smooth and rough against her fingers, the stubble there provoking all kinds of lurid thoughts that she had no right thinking. That would only get her in trouble and laid out in a casket, if she was lucky. </p><p> </p><p>"And how do you know I'm not working some sort of magic on you right now?" she whispered, raising her eyebrow as she slowly leaned in, tilting her mouth up suggestively. "How do you know I didn't change something in you, something that will ruin everything for you and your little friends?" she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Paul actually smiled. Her smug expression quickly faded when he leaned in just as much. He was so close that she would have felt his breath on her lips if he had reason to breathe. "That scared look in your eye, for one. And the sarcastic line of your mouth," he murmured, his own free hand cupping her shoulder, taking care to not grind the cigarette into her substandard mortal flesh.  "Mostly because even you don't have that power, you admitted that right off. And you wouldn't, anyway," he replied, his voice so low it was almost a growl. She shivered and fought the temptation to lean into him. He stayed right where he was, leaving her to make the final move. "Come with me. Talk it over," he whispered, fingers idly tracing patterns over her shoulder, those eyes sucking her in. The pull, the seductive draw was very slight but it was still there. It wasn't the obvious yank that David had, but it was tempting. It would feel so good to give in, <em>That’s how they’ll get you. </em>They’d lure her in with kindness or seduction or whatever they could use as bait, and then squash her when she least expected it.</p><p> </p><p>Her mouth tensed right before her knee slammed towards Paul's crotch. This time it was Jinny who shouted before falling backwards on her ass on the sidewalk. Paul grinned broadly and knocked his fist against his groin with a hard clonk. "Came prepared for that, babe."</p><p> </p><p>"What the fuck did you pad yourself with? It feels like iron!" she hissed, rubbing her throbbing knee. </p><p> </p><p>The jerk just gave an innocent shrug. "I'll take that as a no, then?"</p><p> </p><p>"You can take it as a no and shove it right...what are you wearing?" she murmured, eyebrows shooting up towards her hairline. His grin was brilliant as he posed in the updated jeans, hands fiddling with the leather jacket that was draped over the snug tshirt. Even his hair was combed down, though he was still the essential Paul, especially given that his jeans were at least as tight as the pants she had first seen him in. </p><p> </p><p>"You noticed! Thought I'd take your advice, try to fit in. That way you'll never see us coming!" he added pointedly, wagging his brows. </p><p> </p><p>"Perfect," she grunted, wobbling to her feet. "If my leg's broken I'm so writing you hooking up with Michael," she warned.</p><p> </p><p>Paul snorted, for once looking offended. "Wouldn't get near that fucker if my life depended on it. And you shouldn't either," he snapped.</p><p> </p><p>She smirked slightly at this edge as she slowly got to her feet. "Jealous are we?"</p><p> </p><p>His laugh was bitter and immediate. "Hell no. The only good thing he did was get rid of Max for us and rid us of the weaker links. Believe me, girl, it will not bode well for you if you hang around with him."</p><p> </p><p>She shrugged. "He treats me well."</p><p> </p><p>Paul snorted. "We didn't exactly treat you bad, either."</p><p> </p><p>"He doesn't have an ulterior motive!" she shot back.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't be too sure of that," the vampire warned, voice low and deadly. "I thought I'd try to be nice and get you to come work things out, but if you're set on taking up with the enemy, go ahead and make things hard on yourself!"</p><p> </p><p>"Nice talk coming from my potential murderer," Jinny snarled, head tilted as she leaned up in his face. </p><p> </p><p>"Sure, point out the little shortcomings!" he blurted, tossed, his cig to the pavement, and crushed it angrily underfoot. She shuddered as she watched its tiny light go out and wondered if that was how it would be like for her. "Just watch yourself, then. And know that we tried to do it the easy way!"</p><p> </p><p>The embers from the cigarette flickered out against the streaked ashes. Everything that had been an issue for her suddenly seemed ridiculous. <em>It’s gonna have to happen sometime. Maybe if I just get it over with, it won’t be as bad. </em>"Paul, I-" She stopped as soon as she looked up. He was gone. She looked up and down the street, but it was if he hadn't even shown up in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>"Sorry it took so long. I ran into a lot of people I knew," Michael called as he exited the cafe. "Mary, you okay?" he asked as soon as he saw her distant, vaguely hollow face.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah. I'm fine," she murmured, shrugging off his searching eyes. "I just hate to be kept waiting," she grumbled as they started off down the street. At least she wasn't limping. Whatever her knee had connected with obviously hadn't done too much damage. It was the little things that mattered. "Where to?" she asked after a while, trying to slip back into the good humor that had so effortlessly been drained from her. </p><p> </p><p>"I know some places, c'mon," he urged and her feet rooted to the sidewalk when his hand gently took hers, fingers twining between her own. "Mary?" he asked, lip twitching as her cheeks tinted pink.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, sorry. Not used to the bright glare of regular life," she snickered, slowly following his lead down the street.</p><p> </p><p>Dinner was simple but nice, but coming out into the darkened street afterwards was the last thing she wanted to do.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey. It's okay," Michael soothed, taking her hand once more and squeezing it. "I won't let anything happen to you." She nodded, but felt so torn. After all, there had been one waiting for her outside the cafe when it had been only dusk. She had to remember to keep an extra careful eye out on dark, overcast days.  "It's okay," he assured her as they slowly wandered off to the beach. </p><p> </p><p>The sudden rev of bike engines nearly made her jump out of her skin and she huddled against him, ducking her face into his chest. "No!" she gasped as she pressed hard into him.</p><p> </p><p>"What the...." he followed her uneasy gaze to where the boys tore off down the street, hollering the whole way. She saw Dwayne and Marko's backs as they passed, thought she saw the wisp of Paul's hair and heard his loud mouth, but she could have sworn that David actually slowed to smirk at them before gaining speed to catch up with the rest of the gang.</p><p> </p><p>Even though it only took a few seconds, she was threatening to bolt by time they had passed.</p><p> </p><p>"Mary?" he asked, quickly turning her to face him. "You've gone cold. What the...you know them?" he asked, bending to look her in the eye, his face full of concern. "They're what you're afraid of?" She nodded and swallowed tightly. "You know, don't you," he whispered and all she could do was lean against him and nod. "Shit. Did they...what did they do to you?" he hissed.</p><p> </p><p>"Nothing, yet. But if they find me, I'm dead," she whispered. "Before, when you were in the store...one of them...Paul," she admitted, shuddering hard, unable to get the right words out.</p><p>           </p><p>His face turned lethal as soon as she said the words. "He hurt you? Is that why you're making that face when you walk?"</p><p> </p><p>"That would be my own damn fault for being too bold," she sighed, slowly coming back to herself. "And he didn't...well...it's a long story."  She slowly looked up at Michael and studied him.  His face was contorted by pent-up rage and memories, his eyes traumatized yet fiery. And even then his arms wrapped firmly around her and she slowly felt her resolve crumble away. "Maybe it's time to have that talk," she sighed. </p><p> </p><p>"I think so. But only if you're ready," he insisted.</p><p> </p><p>"There's some things you're not going to believe," she warned and his laughter was well-intentioned but hollow.</p><p> </p><p>"I never used to believe in vampires. Go on, try me," he urged as they slowly headed away from that place, down to the beach where they could talk in private. </p><p> </p><p>Once she had gotten it all out Jinny watched him, or what she could see of his profile, as he took it all in. She adjusted her position curled up on the sand and waited for him to commit her. <em>I crossed the line. I shouldn’t have opened my mouth. I can’t take it back now. </em></p><p> </p><p>"I believe you," he finally murmured, nodding to himself.</p><p> </p><p>"You what?" It was too much to hope for, especially after Paul's warnings. Though why wouldn't he warn her? Michael was their enemy for all the basic reasons. And that wasn't any of her business. </p><p>           </p><p>He turned to look at her.  "It's far-fetched and outlandish, but I believe you. It's too detailed to make up. Too many coincidences. And if you did make it up, it sure as hell wouldn't have gone the way it did. No way would you have chosen this for yourself. Living on the streets does things to people, but you aren't crazy. And how can I disbelieve you after what happened to me?" </p><p> </p><p>Something inside her, some thick wall crumbled and she tossed her arms round him. "Thank you," she sighed.</p><p> </p><p>"But you have no idea how to get home? Or even why you're here?" he asked, frowning. "Sorry, I'm not trying to bring up bad memories, I just trying to wrap my mind around this, see if there's any way I can help. If you really don’t want to be here, then you shouldn’t have to stay."</p><p> </p><p>"I have no idea why I'm here," she admitted.  "It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, but it’s obviously not a place where I belong. Everything I told them..it could be true, but I was mostly bluffing. I didn't dare let them know that I'm about as powerless to the situation as they are, that it’s some weird cosmic accident. My author powers of control ended the day I showed up in Santa Carla. Now I'm just another character if this is a story, or another regular person if it really is another extension of reality.  If I affect anything it's because I have to physically make it happen," she added, shaking her head. Something in him relaxed at the confession, though she had to admit the moon made things look strange at night.</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head and stared out towards the water. "And if they were to find out...hell, even if they don't I'm dead meat. I mean, I've thought of everything, all the possibilities! Maybe I'm dead and this is some sick punishment, but that seems extreme even for me. Maybe I have to die here to go back, but I don't want to test out that theory," she admitted. "Maybe I have to ride the plot out...but I've ridden out so many plots, so many chapters. Things just keep changing! I’ve done everything but go to them, and there’s no way I can do that now."</p><p> </p><p>"What about trying to write yourself out?" he offered quietly, though it was an idea hesitantly given. </p><p> </p><p>She sighed. "I tried it. Tried it on napkins, paper bags, any surface I could find until I got the balls to steal a notebook.  Nothing. Not a damn thing, nothing that resembled any of my ideas has shown up in real life. It's not worth it to keep trying and get my hopes up."</p><p> </p><p>Michael nodded, frowning thoughtfully. "You mentioned some half-finished story that was in your suitcase-"</p><p> </p><p>he shook her head in self-disgust. "Gratuitous stuff. It didn't resemble much of what's happened, though. I mean, the character in that one resembled me, and it was about her getting kidnapped by the Lost Boys, but...none of that happened."</p><p> </p><p>"Maybe if you had stayed in place...or...I don't know," he mused. </p><p> </p><p>"Well...it did start out with a girl on vacation...," she mused, her mind relaxing enough to think. "And she did go out and see the sights, but she didn't go and check to see if she was alive or whatever, didn't stop to use the phone or the Internet..." Jinny looked up, eyes wide. "You mean that by one fit of self-preservation I changed the whole scheme of things?"</p><p> </p><p>"Maybe it's just a coincidence, but it sure as hell sounds that way. But there's your way out! Write yourself out. Write everything that's happened to the letter and then write an ending." He looked so pleased with himself it was no wonder he looked confused when she started to bang her forehead against her good knee.</p><p> </p><p>"I can't!" It was a strangled sort of scream but her exasperation was never pretty. </p><p> </p><p>"What do you mean you can't?"</p><p> </p><p>"It's gone!!"</p><p> </p><p>"Gone?" he repeated.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes, gone! As in I was cold and disgusted with myself so I burned it! There's no more story, no chance, my God I'm a fucking idiot!" she screeched, head in her hands, breaths becoming loud wheezes. “Even if I could redo it, I don’t think I could get all the details right!”</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, hey! Calm down, breathe!" he urged, his hand large and warm on her back. She wriggled away but he drew her back in, refusing to take her abuse. Not that she paid him any mind. She was too busy having a panic attack.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh my God...why me...why the hell...I'm going to die, I'm going to wake up dead and never get home-"</p><p> </p><p>"Hey." She looked up, panting hard, face still in shock at how simple it could have been. <em>I’ll never even find out if it would have worked now. </em>Michael's fingers gently wiped her face. "You never spoke that kindly of home anyway when you opened up," he reminded her. That was true, there were a lot of things she didn't miss. "I mean, sure you might miss what you knew, but...is here so bad?" He blushed at her withering look. "I mean, not the street life, but now."</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head slowly. "Well...no...but it's not exactly a life." She wanted to add that it wasn't what she would have planned for herself, but admitting that certain curiosities and attractions hadn't completely dissipated would not help her cause. </p><p> </p><p> "You're still rebuilding. And there's no way you can recover any of that story?" he pressed, eyes firm and eager to get that clear and out of the way.</p><p> </p><p>"No. It's gone. Totally, utterly gone."</p><p> </p><p>"Then stay with me." She looked up quickly, but his hand on her face silenced her. "Stay with me, Mary. I'll look after you. I know you've had a hard time of it, but I won't let anything happen to you. It may be weird, it may be a different life than what you're used to...but please...take what I'm offering." The voice that was dark honey was so compelling, so much of what she wanted, but...</p><p> </p><p><em>He’s too convenient. Possibly too old. You shouldn’t make a decision like this. </em>She frowned, wasn't quite sure how to read his intentions, but it was the only offer she'd gotten,  save one that could easily lead to her being thrown off a cliff. It was her only real choice, the safest choice. Though she knew even as she began to answer that she had finally chosen a side and that the future would not be easy from there on out. <em>You also don’t really have a choice anymore. </em>Slowly she nodded, blushed at his brilliant smile. "Alright. But I don't want to be a burden-"</p><p> </p><p>"You aren't. Not at all," he whispered, hand squeezing hers. He was so warm, so good, so...perfect. Too perfect.</p><p> </p><p>"This just seems too good to be true!" she admitted, running a hand through her hair in relief, frustration, nervous energy. "But I just don't understand out of all the fanfic writers, why me. I'm surely not the first to wrongly want something like this, I'm definitely not the most deserving or even all that good-"</p><p> </p><p>Michael shrugged thoughtfully. "Maybe for one moment you wanted it badly enough. Maybe in some weird way your destiny's here and it was through writing that you could get here. I don't know if there is a real answer, honestly. Maybe the city needed you...maybe I did," he whispered, drawing her eyes up from where they had been watching the sand between them. "But don't question it anymore. You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out. We've both been given a gift: a friend who's been there," he whispered. She couldn't see his face very well in the darkness, but at least his voice was there to hold her in the void. To let her know it was all real and that he wasn't going away.</p><p> </p><p>She nodded, wet her lips apprehensively, eyes darting to the sand and then back to his face. "Michael, what happened? Nothing here is like in the movie, not really."</p><p> </p><p>He sighed, was quiet for a long time. "We fought them. We thought they had been killed, didn't hear from them for years.  They have...they're very good at mind powers, Mary. You have no idea," he added seriously. "They can make you see things that aren't there, see twisted versions of things. We thought they were dead and we went about our lives. They regrouped, healed, and then they came back. They killed Grandpa first, out of required loyalty to their head vampire. And then the Frog brothers. And then a few months later they got Mom and Sam," he sighed, his whole body shaking as he struggled to recount it all.</p><p> </p><p>"And then Star," she whispered, shaking her head at seeing him come so quickly undone. He nodded tightly.</p><p> </p><p>"Everyone except Laddie. As far as I know they've never touched him again. Apparently, they have a soft spot for kids, I don't know. But they took <em>everything</em>from me, and eventually..."</p><p> </p><p>"They'll come for you. I know the feeling," she sighed, squeezing his hand tightly between both of hers. </p><p> </p><p>"The business, my life here. All of this is because if I leave, I know they'll follow. It's a game to them, they have all the time in the world. I could go next week or they could leave me until I'm ninety and weak and old and they're still young and strong.  I'll never get out of town. Things won't stop until they're gone," he added, his voice strengthening at the last word. "Then I won't have to be alone anymore," he added, staring a hole into the dark ocean.</p><p> </p><p>"Michael," she whispered, gently turning his face to look at her. "You aren't alone. Not anymore." He stared at her for a few moments, recognizing his words coming back to him.</p><p> </p><p>And then he slowly leaned in and kissed her. She tensed, her first instinct to pull away. But there was something about how soft his mouth was. He was cool in the night air, but it didn’t matter. He was safe. Alive. Though his mouth tasted strange yet familiar, as if there was a slightly bittersweet taint to it, just like the rest of him. "Don't leave me," he whispered, and she jumped as his tongue reached into her mouth, gently brushing over hers.</p><p> </p><p><em>Back away while you can. You’re just going to be using him, you don’t feel what you should. </em>But maybe she could, with time. She needed him as badly as he needed her. And there were worse things. Something in the back of her mind growled at the principle, but the recognition of his kiss, of his hand down her back relaxed her, urged her on until she was nearly in his lap. </p><p> </p><p>She had never sat and made out with someone to that extent before. The guys she’d gotten anywhere with hadn’t been concerned with what she’d wanted and the encounters had always been sloppy and lacking, ending with her pulling away and being called frigid. It was impossible for her to get anywhere unless she really felt something for someone, and even though she questioned her thoughts about Michael, there was an odd pull to him, something she couldn’t fully ignore. She was always the one just to write about what it might be like. But the soft noises he made, his heartbeat, his mouth skimming softly over her neck were all too much and it wound her up.</p><p> </p><p>Though something inside her withdrew when his hand skimmed only half-innocently over her breast. She jumped away, looked up at him quickly. "No," she whispered. "Not yet. I...can't yet," she added, hoping he'd understand. She needed him to, it couldn’t be more of the same, like where she’d come from.</p><p> </p><p>"We can wait," he agreed, stroking her cheek. </p><p> </p><p>"You can still kiss me," she whispered, lips twisting up softly and he chuckled, his mouth moving back over hers with slightly more force. She moaned, slowly relaxing, unwinding, getting into the rhythm of his touch.</p><p> </p><p>She didn't quite know when or how it happened but her mouth was drawn to his skin, her teeth raking gently over his neck. It was the same way it had been with Dwayne. The skin was there, tanned and beautiful in the dwindling moonlight, begging her to taste it, to mark it. He hissed and she smiled, suddenly sinking her teeth down into his flesh gently, sucking. He yelped and pushed her away.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't...don't  do that," he warned, his hand tight on his neck, body language reminiscent of hers when he had first met her. </p><p> </p><p>Her eyes went wide and she shook her head. "God, I'm sorry..I just...I don't know what came over me. I'm not one of them," she insisted, leaning over slowly to squeeze his shoulder. He nodded, and she was surprised to see that he was covered by a light coating of sweat that seemed to reflect odd colors over his tan in the nighttime light.  </p><p> </p><p>"I know. I wouldn't invite just anyone into my apartment," he added wryly. "But..."</p><p> </p><p>"I wont' if you don't want me to. I just...I don't know," she admitted, standing, stroking his cheek. "I won't do that again. I'm normally not into rough stuff anyway. Something must have come over me,” she sighed, frowning at the thought of the sudden compulsion. I just..." she trailed off, shaking her head. He smiled, took her hand. </p><p> </p><p>"It's been a long night for both of us. Let's go home."</p><p> </p><p>"Home," she agreed, and it felt new, different. But nice.</p><p> </p><p>"So you're happy?" he asked after he stopped to listen as they slowly navigated away from the ocean, the feel of his hand against hers calming her even as she searched the darkness for bike tracks and odd lights.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah...I think I am." It wasn't much of a lie. She could slowly learn to be happy with him. </p><p> </p><p>"So what were you writing about, anyway?" he asked as they trailed back up the beach. She was never so glad that it was harder to see her red face in the dark.</p><p> </p><p>"Uh...just some experimental stuff. With the vampires' characters," she added quickly. He seemed to accept that and squeezed her hand.</p><p> </p><p>"You won't be doing any research, will you?" he teased and she smiled tightly.</p><p> </p><p>"Believe me, I think I've had enough up close and personal for a long, long time," she sighed, relaxing only when they were on his bike and heading off the Boardwalk.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0021"><h2>21. Welcome to Reality</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny tries to adapt to regular life, but the boys refuse to let her go, and Michael changes everything.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So, character death ahead.</p><p>Kind of.</p><p>Deep breaths, keep an eye on the tags and plot twists :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> Jinny glanced up as she finished reaming out a fifteen-year-old for using one of the café’s terminals to frequent some girl on girl site, her face tight as she glanced at the clock. It was getting on in the evening, already past sunset. She glanced out the front window to be sure and felt her lips purse as her fears were confirmed. The sun was just sinking into the horizon, a sight she’d begun to equate with death. "Come on, Michael," she whispered, moving to pick up as her shift ended. Dawn, the evening manager, had already started her shift and had things under control for the most part.</p><p> </p><p>"Waiting for your ride?" the younger girl asked. Dawn was a pleasant, vivacious single mom who took most things in stride. She was well-suited for the job and usually ended up calming Jinny down over potential catastrophies. She’d attributed it to her past jobs before her kid as a stage manager, and ruled the coffee house with a stern precision and wicked sense of humor. She was good company when they actually saw each other. Though mostly Jinny hoped they never did, because that meant she'd avoid the situation she was presently in.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah. Michael must be running late," she replied as she hurried to the front desk to grab the phone. She glanced at the door again before quickly jabbing in his cell number. The familiar refrain of his voice mail made her hand tighten on the receiver and her lips purse. "Come on!" she growled, the sudden thought that he may be injured or even....Jinny shuddered and counted to ten. "Please, Michael, where are you?" she sighed, trying the apartment phone and got a similar message. "Fuck!"</p><p> </p><p>"Hey Mary can you give this to these guys a real quick? We just got mobbed,” Dawn asked and passed her a tray full of drinks and pastries. Jinny looked up, dazed, wondering why she hadn't noticed the sudden influx of customers. <em>Maybe I’m just that tired.</em>A lot of students had started showing up to work on projects, and of course most had waited till the last minute. </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, sure, I'll get right to it," she sighed, wearily walking back to the floor and going to the table in question. Even as she approached her stomach tightened, though her face didn't catch up until the figure seated at the end of the table turned and grinned at her. The coat was gone and he was dressed in nondescript black jeans and a black T-shirt. She never would have spotted him in a crowd unless she saw the hair or his face. Her body stiffened as David glanced up and flashed a smug grin. "You're not supposed to come in here," she stammered, quickly taking a step back.</p><p> </p><p>"Just couldn't stay away from your charming face," he retorted and she swallowed hard as she stepped back and bumped into something solid. A quick look over her shoulder proved it to be Dwayne. Marko sat dutifully by David, grinning up at her with that alarmingly large smile that made her think of a deranged, bloodthirsty Cheshire Cat.</p><p> </p><p>"Leave," she whispered, though it wasn't much of a threat considering she was white as mayonnaise.</p><p> </p><p>"Mary, you doing okay over there?" Dawn asked and Jinny felt her skin grow cold. She couldn't compromise the other girl or the other patrons. </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, I..I'm fine. Thanks," she added, her eyes never leaving the bemused blue ones of the vampire seated before her. "What are you doing here?" she hissed softly.</p><p> </p><p>"<em>Mary</em>huh?" David asked tilting his head as he simply stared at her. "Oh, Mary...Mary, Mary you're on my mind," he added, grinning wickedly as he reached up and took the tray from her with one hand and set it on the table, the weight and wobbling dishes nothing to him.</p><p> </p><p>"Someone's gonna have a good time tonight," Marko snickered and she closed her eyes at the enveloped her. </p><p> </p><p>"I think I'm entitled to that, after all she put me through," Dwayne growled and she squirmed as his hands landed on her hips. Her body stiffened, but she couldn’t deny the shiver the simple action induced. She twisted moved to push him away. He only laughed in her ear. "Go on, girl, try it. I'm watching you and those knees," he warned. </p><p>           </p><p>"We've finally found you. Lucky for us Emerson has a bad sense of time. Such a bad characteristic of an employer," David went on, leaning back in the chair and cracking his knuckles leisurely. "So, you have a choice. Come with us willingly or see what happens to Michael's fine establishment...and everyone in it," he declared, his voice soft but steady, eyes losing all the twisted mirth that had been sparkling there a second previously.</p><p> </p><p>"What?" she gasped, glancing around at the young couples on first dates, the groups of students frantically trying to pull reports out of their asses, the wannabe writers, the unsuspecting girls going through their email. He hadn't exactly said that they'd kill them, but she couldn't trust him not to, either. </p><p> </p><p>David shrugged, her decision seemingly the last thing on his mind. "Those are the conditions. Don't make me say it again."</p><p> </p><p>"What the fuck are-" She stopped as David pushed out his chair. "Okay! I...okay," she whispered, swallowing hard as she glanced around her. No Michael.</p><p> </p><p>"And now she finally gets smart," David drawled, grinning as he finished standing. “See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”</p><p> </p><p>She fixed him with her darkest glare but cocked her head towards the counter. "Dawn, I've got some business to attend to. If Michael comes looking for me..."</p><p> </p><p>"You went to pick up dinner," Dwayne whispered in her ear. His hand barely rested on her lower back, but that small movement spoke volumes.</p><p> </p><p>"I went to get dinner," she added. "Chinese," she couldn't help but add, hoping he'd get the hint. She winced as Dwayne's nails dug into her back, sighed and slowly started to follow David out of the shop.</p><p> </p><p>He froze, his smirk turning to an expression of listening, and then intense alarm. "Boys, we gotta go," he snapped, quickly heading for the door. "Now!" he snapped and the others suddenly wore similar expressions of panic and moved as one to follow.</p><p> </p><p>"But what about her?" Marko asked, nodding to where Jinny still stood, dumb-struck. </p><p> </p><p>"No time. We'll get her. Don't worry. She can't hide from us now," he added, eyeing her meaningfully before they took their leave.</p><p> </p><p>She sunk into the chair David had vacated and gripped the table top until she could breathe again.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, what's the matter?" Her head snapped up and she did shake then, face contorting in fury.</p><p> </p><p>'"I thought you were coming to pick me up as soon as you got done going over the accounts!" she hissed as Michael closed the front door behind them.</p><p> </p><p>"I had some business that couldn't wait, " he said dismissively, and she frowned at the smile he was straining to suppress.  "C'mon, let's go, I have a surprise for you-"</p><p> </p><p>"Michael they were here!" she whispered, eyeing him meaningfully.</p><p> </p><p>He stopped immediately, the hidden glee clean off his face. "What? When?"</p><p> </p><p>"Just now! You didn't see them as they came in?" she blurted, dumbfounded as to how he could have missed three vampires with places to be.</p><p> </p><p>He frowned and shook his head. "No, there was nothing. Mary, are you sure?"</p><p> </p><p>"Given they just tried to blackmail me into coming with them, yes I'm sure! You're lucky everyone here is still alive!" she snarled, stalking for the door.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh Michael, Mary said-oh good, you're still here!" Dawn chirped as she saw them both together. “Then have a good evening!" </p><p> </p><p>"Don't bet on it," Jinny grumbled, pushing past the door before heading to the bike.</p><p> </p><p>"Mary! Mary, come on! It's alright! Hey, calm down, you're shaking!"</p><p> </p><p>She whirled when his hand caught her fingertips. "Calm down? After what just happened you expect me to <em>calm down</em>?!" she shrieked, regarding him incredulously.</p><p> </p><p>He nodded, his calm exterior starting to buzz with that hidden energy again. "Yeah, I do. Listen...they left in a hurry?"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah," she replied, frowning at the glitter in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"Good. Now they'll know not to mess with you." There was something about the way he said it that reeked of self-satisfaction. It was something she didn't like.</p><p> </p><p>"What do you mean?"</p><p> </p><p>"I got one," he whispered. Her eyes widened slowly.</p><p> </p><p>Her face went slack and she had the strange urge to vomit. "You mean..."</p><p> </p><p>"I was going to pick up dinner and he caught me down by where Max’s used to be. Thank God that place is closed. He drug me in there, but he didn't expect for me to be packing," he went on, nodding to the bike. She frowned and took in the sack strapped onto the back...the sack which contained three wooden stakes.</p><p> </p><p>"You carry stakes around with you?" It was something the Frog brothers would have done, but Michael? <em>What kind of insane version of Santa Carla am I in?!</em></p><p> </p><p>He shrugged before closing up the sack. "Only recently. I figured they'd try something, especially if they figured out you were staying with me. But don't you see? He was the one who tried to kill you, the one that wouldn't leave you alone. Now they know not to mess with you!" He was beyond self-satisfied. It was like there was some kind of calculating reptile under his skin. It was chilling seeing that coolness mixed with his bubbling excitement. </p><p> </p><p>"Michael, not only are they going to be pissed..." She trailed off, brain slowly catching up with her when she realized who he was talking about.  <em>No. No! </em>"You didn't."</p><p> </p><p>His smile said it all. "I want you to have this...picked it off the bloodsucker. God, he was an annoying son of a bitch. I don't know about you but I'm glad he was the first to go," Michael went on, pulling out a small metal object. </p><p> </p><p>"Stop talking," she whispered, hand covering her mouth as she tried to orient herself. It was as if a brother, friend, and something else had suddenly been taken from her all at once. A profound emptiness pierced her, presumably like the stake that had gone through Paul. She couldn't fathom it. He didn't exist anymore. Paul was dead. </p><p> </p><p><em>You should be happy. What the hell’s the matter with you? </em>As it was, she was struggling to hold back tears. She had had her moments of true hate for them, but she didn't want any of them dead. Especially not Paul. He was the one she should have detested the most and yet if he had stayed around five seconds longer that day in front of the coffee shop, things would have taken a different turn.  "I want to see it. To make sure...you said they could do mind tricks. How do you know?"</p><p> </p><p>"Not a good idea, going by what you said. The others will be at the scene by now and I'm not crazy enough to take all of them on at once unless I have the scales tipped in my favor," he reasoned, if such words could even be considered reasonable. "Believe me, he didn't see me coming. You should've seen the look on his face when the wood went right through him nice and easy like a toothpick through a tender piece of meat." He emphasized the words with hand movements, smugness radiating out of him. He looked like he had once he had drunk the wine in the movie, all bad-ass and rebellious for the wrong reasons. </p><p> </p><p>She shuddered, choking when she opened the metal object and saw that it was Paul's switchblade. "Why? Why would you do that?!" she added, her voice rising in volume and pitch.</p><p> </p><p>Michael frowned, his elation lowering to a simmer. "I thought you would've been pleased. You were terrified of them!"</p><p> </p><p>"Yes, but...oh, Michael," she whispered before turning away, trying to breathe. It was a situation beyond tears, beyond any reaction she could think of. The only people she had really known besides Michael since she had come to town were the vampires and now...and <em>Paul</em>, of all people. Paul who enjoyed his unlife, who had always been her favorite to write. He had only reacted the way that he did out of his love of what he was. She couldn't help but understand it even if she didn't particularly like it. He was sick and twisted, but such a sweetheart. Her insides felt hollowed-out and lifeless. She couldn't even put up a front in front of Michael given the situation. <em>I did this to him. My pettiness and jealousy and fear got him killed. </em>Something inside her felt close to shattering, though it didn’t. It felt like the strange compulsion that had urged he to get close to Dwayne, to bite Michael, but it teetered on a highwire, not quite falling off the side. One wrong move, though, and she would break and be forever empty, she was sure of it.</p><p>           </p><p>"What, you had a thing for him?" She frowned at the flare of jealousy in Michael's voice.</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head. "No! No, of course not." Her lower lip snuck between her teeth as she paused, considering. "I don't know. Maybe once, when he was a character..." </p><p> </p><p>"You have to remember these guys are evil," he said flatly and she curled her shoulders against his words. "You've romanticized them! I would've thought you, of all people, would know by now that they're evil."</p><p> </p><p>"No they're not," she whispered tightly. “They were just defending their turf.” How many times had she used that argument when discussing the movie? <em>Why couldn’t you see it from their point of view now that you’re involved? You could have found a better solution!</em></p><p> </p><p>"They tried to make me a blood-sucker!" he shouted, spinning her to face him. "Tried to take all that I loved! They tried to kill you and kidnap you! What the hell does that make them!?"</p><p> </p><p>Hot anger flared in the empty confines of her heart and set her tongue loose with a vengeance. "I don't know, okay? They were just doing what they do. You got in on it, that was your free choice! Maybe they took advantage, maybe not. And they were trying to protect themselves because I made them believe I'm something I'm not! Yeah, they kill, but so the fuck do you!" she snarled before leaning over the bike, stomach twisting. The realization that she had just turned on her meal ticket shook her further, as did the thought that she was thinking of Michael as only security. <em>I’m just as bad as that group of girls. I’m worse. </em>She was as twisted as the lot of them, drawn in only by her own selfishness and survival. If she hadn't opened her big mouth, gone off about them just doing what came naturally. <em>If only I hadn’t come.</em>No matter how she split hairs, how she rationalized everything, it all came down to one event that set the dominoes falling: her arrival. "I'm sorry. I just...I don't feel well," she admitted.</p><p> </p><p>"Let's get you home," Michael finally replied. His voice was cold and detached though there was still an odd sparkle of pleasure and pride in his eyes. He was probably still high from the kill. It worked for the vampires, but on Michael it looked disgusting. </p><p>           </p><p>"Okay," she sighed, sliding onto the bike behind him, her hand clasping the cool metal of the knife. Jinny made herself hang onto Michael. <em>I wonder what it would feel like to drive the knife right into the base of his skull. </em>She could almost see the handle sticking out of the back of his neck, the blood dripping down...</p><p>           </p><p><em>You can’t. You’ll be stuck more than ever if you do. </em>Jinny sucked in a shaky breath and dropped the knife back into the confines of her pocket before clinging to him tightly. Even as they took off towards home, touching him was the last thing she wanted to do. She blinked into the oncoming wind wishing it could blow away every emotion, vaguely wondering what it had felt like when everything around her hadn't been real but only an innocent fantasy.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0022"><h2>22. Raining Again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny tries to understand her complicated feelings and keep moving forward, but can't let the loss of Paul go. Michael is possessive and the boys aren't going to let their actions fly.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>song lyrics by Moby - ever proof that this was originally done a *long* time ago</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jinny bit her lip as they pulled up on the Boardwalk, shivering slightly at the intense energy that swelled around them. It wasn't like during the day when she could hide at work and squeak out when her shift ended near sunset. The Boardwalk was different at night. Things were more raucous, people were a little meaner, and there were threats that laid dormant during the day. Michael had wanted to take her out, though, and despite the tension between them she still needed him. Though where there had been a soft devotion before, she was filled with an odd melancholy, as well as a slow-burning mix of anger and resentment every time she looked at him. </p><p> </p><p>Things had been hard since that horrible night and it was Michael's idea to go out and relax for an evening. She never had made it into his bed, but now she especially didn't want to be anywhere near him, hadn't let him near her in days. It was hard to stop crying even on a good day, which made him all the more furious. It was sick, but she had been trying to pick out which one she would have missed least if it hadn't been Paul. And to her astonishment, she realized that she would have ached for all of them, but to lose Paul was especially hard, especially heartbreaking. <em>At least Dwayne’s still alive. </em>The thought came out of nowhere, and shook her even further, made her sink into herself in an attempt to present a normal front.</p><p> </p><p>All Michael could do was brood or harp on how she had to remember that life wasn't a fantasy. That her own life was at stake. That guys like that would only use her and kill her. Because if they'd really cared about her, why hadn't they really found her and helped her out before now?  He had his points, but she didn't care. And maybe if she hadn't been run out so fast from the video store she would have seen a different side of them. Or maybe if she had gone with Paul. Or maybe Michael was right all along with every single point he made.  She would still refute every single one. </p><p> </p><p>Maybe all she was used to was her own version of things, but deep down she knew there was something more. They weren't evil. Not really. And if they were, then Michael was included in that package. And so was she.</p><p>           </p><p>But for him to just assume that she wanted them dead!</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>But you did want it, didn't you? At least by the way you talked to him, you sounded like you did. You got carried away. No wonder Michael took the initiative. And what did they really do to you</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You incited it, after all. They didn't bring you here. They gave chase, but what the hell were they supposed to do? And now he's dead because of you.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>She tried to keep her throat from constricting and her shoulders from hitching, though that was getting harder. Every time her mind wandered she thought about Paul. She couldn't get him out of her head. His cocky smile, that oddly assertive strut he had had, the way he through town on the bike...chatting up that idiot...She had been angry, unspeakably jealous, but it wasn't a good reason for him to die. His fear and fury when he had tried to kill her, his odd way of trying to make things better or bait her into another trap were also on her mind, but none of it was decent justification. It was all cause and effect, with her as the cause most of the time. It was like sentencing Sylvester the cat to death for trying to eat the damn bird. He was just doing what a cat did, just like Paul was only taking care of turf and going after his own urges. There was no good reason he should have had to pay with his unlife. That was what hurt the most, made her feel heavy as stone all the time. </p><p> </p><p>They hadn't seen any of the others since that night in the coffee shop, though it was only a matter of time. She hadn't slept at all that first night and had been restless ever since, waiting for that night to be her last, saying her prayers to the fullest every night, begging for forgiveness that wouldn't come. </p><p> </p><p>Michael dismounted, and though he didn't seem easy-going, he was certainly more relaxed than her. Jinny sighed and stared down at the bike, numb though they were supposed to be having a good time. "Hey...come on. This is our date, remember?" he reminded her, his tone a little harsher than it should have been if he was really being true to his words. She nodded and put on a soft but fake smile as she took his hand and slid to the ground.</p><p> </p><p><em>Murderer</em>her mind hissed, and she tried to push it down. After all, he knew about her, knew her secrets and hadn't sold her out, even though he alone held that power. <em>Yeah, he's a prince, he killed one of the ones you- </em>She grit her teeth, tried to block the last of it out of her head. She’d liked them all at some point, or she did once upon a time. It had been a warped fixation, a lust wish. Nothing more. So what if Paul had been sweet, bizarrely well-intentioned? He was also vampire, a killer, a clueless male, and a selfish bastard. Her teeth ground as she took Michael's hand, felt the weight of the switchblade in her pocket.<em>And so is he. The only difference is you don't love Michael. </em>She clenched her teeth. <em>I didn’t love Paul. Or any of them. I didn’t even know them well enough to make up my mind. Jump to conclusions, yes, make up my mind, no.</em></p><p> </p><p>He led her to where a large stage had been erected and a series of local bands were going full-blast, washing over the gyrating bodies who were congregated for the concert. They ranged from goth to rock to tunes she usually wished she had a concealed weapon for when she heard them on the radio.  It was proof that the times had changed in the town, and while it wasn't bad, it was more proof that things weren't familiar. They were changing, maybe even because of her. At least it felt she was ruining everything.</p><p> </p><p>"Just relax and have a good time!" Michael shouted over the music, and she nodded dismally, hanging onto his neck when he put an arm round her waist. The music was thankfully something akin to the classic rock that she favored and she let her eyes droop and her body move on its own. At least that way she wouldn't have to watch Michael's look of mortification when he found out what a crappy dancer she was. He either didn't care or didn't share her opinion as he moved against her, slowly getting more daring, as if that would convince her to change her mind on the argument at hand.</p><p> </p><p>A slow blues number began to croon from the stage and Jinny gently moved against Michael, pressed her face into him, almost resigned to her fate in a strange world. <em>A lot of women just shut up and open their legs for security. You did this to yourself, you may just have to lay in this bed now that you’ve made it. </em>It was a horrible, self-punishing thought. She should have been relieved. He was her protector, her provider, savior. At the same time, it took all she had not to reach into her pocket and plunge that knife into his back right where her hand was resting. <em>Do it and melt into the crowd. You can move fast. You won’t be caught. You don’t look like the street rat they’d be looking for now.</em>  A low rumble nearly covered the music and she glanced up as the murky shadows of clouds pushed through the already darkened night sky.</p><p> </p><p>"It'll hold off," he assured her, turning her so he was behind her, his hand splayed flat on her stomach as they rocked to the beat. She was slightly disappointed, though maybe if she slid the blade into his thigh...</p><p> </p><p><em>What am I doing? Why am I even thinking about that? He's the good guy! </em>she reasoned, biting her lip as she tried to give herself over to the pulses that were enhanced by the movements of the bodies around her. She tensed slightly as Michael's free hand moved over her hip, his breath ghosting against her ear.</p><p> </p><p>"You look so great tonight," he breathed, though he had to shout it so the comment lost its sensuality. She nodded, closed her eyes, tried to block out her mind. She supposed she did. She never really thought of herself physically anymore, not when there were far too many other things on her mind. </p><p> </p><p>The crowd gave a collective screech as the sky opened up above them. Jinny's throat contracted at the icy rain and she turned and raised an eyebrow at Michael.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, I'm no meteorologist," he admitted, hand on her back as he ushered her towards one tarps erected across the commons. Her hair quickly plastered across her face and the water tugged at her clothes, weighting her down. She almost lost the will to move her feet, and wondered what would happen if she decided to lay down on the ground and be washed away. The crowd pushed them both forward and she made a face as those quickly determined to reach a dry area shoved her away from Michael's protective guard.</p><p> </p><p>"Idiots. You're wet anyway," she huffed, stalking towards a makeshift tent with slow resolve. It was a nice excuse to get away from him, at least. She glanced over to the covered speakers, which had started to project recorded music as the current band fled the stage, though the static and thunder were quickly drowning the music out. Some idiots were trying to dance, anyway, and she shuddered as random hands attempted to pull her into the rhythm or bodies brushed up against her suggestively.</p><p> </p><p>She rolled her eyes as she recognized the song and shuddered. "God, it's fucking Moby. Cool it," she muttered. "You just don't get kinky to Moby!" The answering laugh made her freeze, made her skin feel as if ice had been injected into her veins. But then the ice warmed and she turned, her heart lifting in expectation, especially when she caught a wild mane of blond hair in the corner of her eye...</p><p> </p><p>It was gone by time she turned to face the direction she had seen it come from. "You're cracking up," she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose as her head throbbed softly. "You know that's not possible," she chided.</p><p> </p><p>"Mary!? Mary!" She rolled her eyes at Michael's call, pointedly ignored him for the moment. She needed a few moments to herself, and while the pseudonym had been hilarious when she had first thought of it, it was grating on her nerves. She was better than a damn Mary Sue, and no Mary Sue would ever be forced to go through something like this. They had the common sense to be in situations where they held the upper hand and made sure it was all about them. It was very obvious that nothing in this Santa Carla was about her, except for when someone got killed because she had opened her mouth.</p><p> </p><p>She tensed as an arm wound round her, but it had the familiar feel that she had slowly become used to, even if she had stopped liking it. His grip was more constrictive lately, ever since she had heard what he had done and didn't approve. Jinny sighed as he moved against her, Michael's other hand on her hip, moving her to the fading, crackling music. "Look, I'm not in the mood-" she sighed, turning in his grip. Her hand covered her mouth as she shrieked, quickly backing up into the poor sod behind her at Dwayne's smirk.</p><p> </p><p>"Not who you expected?" he murmured, a very satisfied smile on his face. Why was it every time he was awake he scared the piss out of her, yet every time he was incapacitated or away from her, her brain insisted on equating him with every sinful thought in the book? Though he sure wasn't interested in her now, unless that interest extended to using her decapitated head as wall decor in the cave. </p><p> </p><p>"Leave me alone...g-go away!" she hissed, quickly glancing around for Michael. </p><p> </p><p>"I don't think so. Before, we were tailing you to cover our bases. Now it's personal," he growled, walking right into her personal space.</p><p> </p><p>"That wasn't my fault!" she blurted, cheeks flushing in shame.</p><p> </p><p>"You didn't stop him," he accused, dark eyes staring right through her.</p><p> </p><p>"I didn't even know!" she pleaded, stepping back and looking for a space to press through and lose the vampire. Dwayne's hand was faster than her feet and he grabbed her arm, yanking her hard against him.</p><p> </p><p>"But you still told him what happened between the two of you! You gave him information, things that you didn't even tell us, I'm presuming. What the hell? Is it because he's human? Humans must be good, vampires bad?  What kind of a sick reason is that? That little push was all he needed. Did you know that most humans are no better than vampires? The only difference is they like to think they have control," he growled, and she trembled as her eyes focused on his mouth as he spoke, noting that his fangs had dropped. He had to be pissed to let that happen in public. </p><p> </p><p>“Please-”</p><p>           </p><p>"None of us have control. My kind is more in tune with our urges, but even we have decency. Most of the time humans are one step away from the urge to give in to that primal feeling, but then they use it in the worst ways and fuck up other people's lives!" She winced at the force of his grip, tried to use her body weight to push herself away. He only smirked. "Even if you didn't intend for it to happen, girl, it still did. Michael may have staked him, but your hands are stained. The worst part is you're the only one who can do a damn thing to rectify this, and you've sided with the biggest asshole in Santa Carla. And why? Not because you even love him, but because he's safe. He'll give you what you need. So my best friend had to die so you could feel safe." His face darkened and his eyes seemed hollow before they flashed golden orange. </p><p> </p><p>"Please," she whispered, biting her lip at the burning in her eyes. It was so much more than terror, it was the horror of knowing she had hurt him, them as much as...</p><p> </p><p>"You've chosen your side, girl. This is just a warning. You'd better hope Michael can really protect you, because when we get you alone next," he warned, breaking off into menacing laughter before he tossed her backwards into the crowd. She gasped, her teeth narrowly missing her tongue as she hit the ground. </p><p> </p><p>"Well what the hell can I do?" she shrieked, but when she opened her eyes there was no vampire in front of her.</p><p> </p><p>"You can get the fuck up off the ground," a thin waif sneered and she numbly complied, ignoring the taunting laughter around her. She was luck. She deserved far worse. </p><p> </p><p>"Mary, there you are!" To her horror Jinny watched as her hand  reached into her pocket and whipped out the knife, the blade flicking open as she glanced up at Michael.</p><p>           </p><p>He stopped in mid-stride as he worked his way around the ever-changing living labyrinth at the panicked look on her face and the knife in her hand. "What's wrong? Did someone threaten you?"</p><p> </p><p>She wanted to sneer and tell him that there was no Nanook here to protect him, no sign to warn him that the blade was meant for him. But all she could do was fumble to close the knife and hide it in her jacket once more.  "I..."</p><p> </p><p><em>Don't tell him you idiot! Don't tell him or it's the end! </em>her better sense warned.</p><p> </p><p>"What is it?" he demanded, hands on her shoulders. She shook in his grip: cold, wet, and terrified. "You have to tell me, please," he begged, his fingertip working under her chin, forcing her look into those large brown eyes. It was strange, but when she looked at him her better sense clouded over and she remembered why she needed to trust him. She couldn’t not tell him, even if she didn’t want to.</p><p> </p><p>"Dwayne," she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>"What, here?" he replied, full attention on her face. She nodded. "Did he threaten you?!" The meat of his palm was on her cheek. It would have been so easy to move her head to the side and bite a chunk out of him.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm to blame as much as you are. If they find us again they'll kill us," she murmured, arms wrapping around herself tightly. He shook his head, eyes snapping fire under his long lashes. </p><p>           </p><p>"This ends tonight," he hissed and stalked towards his bike.</p><p> </p><p>His words took a moment to sink in before Jinny gaped and took off after him. <em>Great work. The hell is wrong with you? Why weren’t you able to keep your mouth shut?  </em>she thought to herself, lunging forward to grab Michael's jacket sleeve.</p><p> </p><p>"Michael! Michael!" she gasped, turning him to face her. "Let's just go away! We can sell the apartment later. Let's just leave tonight."</p><p> </p><p>"They'll never let us just go, Mary," he sighed, hands on her shoulders, face set. "We have to protect ourselves." His eyes flashed weird colors in the darkened sky and she shook her head, feeling oddly like a helpless Star. </p><p> </p><p>"You scare me when you talk like that. Please, let's just go home. I don't want to..." she broke off, biting her lip as she looked away. <em>Offer to fuck him. Take him to bed then kill him after. </em>Her fingernails dug into the skin of her palm as she thought of someone else with blond hair and laughing eyes. </p><p> </p><p>"We have to take care of this."</p><p> </p><p>She snapped her face back to his. "No we don't! We don't. We can coexist, we can, I don't know, but I don't want any more deaths, ours or theirs!" she added, gripping his hand when he tried to move away. "Please, let's just go home or go for a ride, at least! It'll clear your head." She tugged harder as he continued to walk. "They're not here, anyway! Do you think Dwayne would stay after showing himself?"</p><p> </p><p>"Fine," he sighed, and she took a slow breath of relief as he slid onto the bike, gave her his arm for support as she took her place behind him. "Let's just go for a ride, then."</p><p> </p><p>"Thank you," she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>She relaxed as he gunned the motor and nudged the machine into gear. "They won't have you, though," he added. "I won't let them hurt you, .or anyone," she could have sworn she heard him add as they took off into the night.</p><p> </p><p>It was only too late that she began to realize that they were heading the wrong way up the beach. Jinny held on tightly, knowing it was stupid to ask where they were going. All she could do was hang on and literally ride it out.  She still heard the music, dimly wondered if hell could be being stuck in a song fic. With her luck it was as good a hypothesis as any.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Oh, and it's raining again<br/>Light on your car light, bullets on tin<br/>Oh, and its raining again<br/>Open the door and pulling me in<br/><br/><br/>Sadness like water raining down<br/>Raining down, raining down, raining down<br/><br/></em>
</p><p>As the sky began to trickle the last of its offerings onto their backs, she added her own droplets that slid down her cheeks and onto the leather of the jacket on the man in front of her. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0023"><h2>23. Power Play</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Michael reveals his motives</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p2">
  <span class="s1">The dread in Jinny’s stomach intensified as the bike roared along the beach. Jinny gripped Michael tightly, buried her face against his back.<em>Not there...please not there</em>she pleaded silently.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The fog thickened as they approached Hudson's Bluff and she could dimly make out the crashing of waves against the motor of his bike.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">They slowed to a stop, but she didn't release her hold on him. If anything she dug her fingers harder into his upper arms and back. "Please, let's just go away. Leave Santa Carla and forget about this," she whispered, tugging him back as he rose to dismount.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"There's nothing to be afraid of!" he growled, and she shuddered at the strength of his anger, that greyness that had turned into deep obsidian inside him. "Are you afraid of going in there or afraid that I'm going to kill them?" he spat. She couldn't meet the hard look in his eyes. "This is for us! For you to be safe, for me to get completion. As long as they're out there we have to live in fear. I'm not going to do it anymore!" </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She shook her head, pursing her lips as she braced herself. "You've done so much for me but...you have to realize by now we're just feeding off of each other. We don't have anything but codependency, you have to feel that. Michael, this is wrong, it feels all wrong," she pleaded. She didn't want to think about what Dwayne had said back at the concert.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-converted-space">
    
  </span>
  <span class="s1">
    <em>Even if you didn't intend for it to happen, chica, it still did. Michael may have staked him, but your hands are stained. The worst part is you're the only one who can do a damn thing to rectify this, and you've sided with the biggest asshole in Santa Carla. And why? Not because you even love him, but because he's safe, he'll give you what you need. So my best friend had to die so you could feel safe. </em>
  </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Come on," Michael ordered. She fought the tears as she slowly dismounted, hand reaching inside her jacket to finger the switchblade he’d given her not too long ago. Her hand tightened around it as she watched him walk ahead of her and she fought the violent stab of hatred and frustration. <em>I thought he was so nice...</em>she reasoned, feet numbly obeying the other human's commands as she followed him. <em>Then why is he doing this. Why do this out of malice? This isn't a plot twist, this is cruel!</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">They headed up the rickety wooden stairs and with each movement closer to the cave she prayed that they'd find nothing or that he'd change his mind. "They're probably still out, anyway. We'll wait and catch them unaware."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"They'll be able to smell us," she muttered. "This is suicide." He shrugged off her warnings. He'd do what he pleased and she'd end up dead. In the end it didn't matter. She'd already ruined things.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">Michael turned and fixed her with a long, hard stare. It was a side to him he didn't show often, something beyond the grey taint. It was something cold, detached, but very focused. "Look, it's like you've said. I've taken care of you, I've given you all I could, I haven't pressed you when we got closer. If I have to call in one favor, this is it," he stated, suddenly very imposing framed against the dark mouth of the cavern. "Come with me now. Help me do this. You owe me that much. I won't let them hurt you and then we can go away," he added in a softer tone.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She couldn't help but feel something in her screaming, nearly dying as she followed him into the main cavern.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The air was stale but not unpleasant, cool but not cold. "Stay here," he warned and she shuddered as his footsteps grew faint, but then came the soft hiss of fire and a torch framed his face in the dark.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"So this is it," she whispered, looking around as he lit the barrels, the spreading flames illuminating the cave in a warped glow. It was right out of the movie save that like everything else it had its own smells, its own noises, its own personality that extended far past the visual. It should have been an experience that she treasured ,yet she would have given anything to not be there.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah," he added, shuddering as he took in the surroundings. "I never thought I'd be back here."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We can still leave, Michael," she whispered, gently placing her hand on his shoulder.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He shook his head. "No. I'm not giving this up."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I don't like this, I just want to leave," she whispered. She sounded panicked and weak, but she had reason to be afraid. She didn't want to be part of some vendetta, she just wanted...</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>I just want Paul back. I want the others to be safe. </em>It didn't make sense but there it was. Despite the cruel taint to her writing she couldn't deny that all she wanted was a happy ending.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Listen to me," he growled, firmly taking hold of her shoulders and staring into her eyes. "We can't let them keep on doing this. They're evil, Mary! They don't just kill. You should hear some of the stories!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"There are always multiple sides to everything, Michael," she muttered, blinking when his countenance changed to something dark and purposeful. "Are you insane?!" she shrieked, clawing at his jacket as Michael's hands slid under her arms. He easily used lifted her right off the ground to one of the beds.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You've got to trust me," was all he said before tossing her onto the mattress. She coughed at the dust the movement produced and could barely orient herself before she saw the rope in his hand. "I need a distraction and you're the best bait I have." He said it so matter-of-factly that she couldn't help the terror that flared through her.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"<b><em>What</em></b>?" She rolled for the side of the bed but he had already anticipated her escape and blockied her with his body.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">“No you don’t!”</span>
  <span class="s1">Michael grabbed her left wrist and though she struggled to claw at him, kick him away, he easily leaned on her to get the upper hand, overpowering her until it was bound to part of the headboard. "I won't let them get near enough to hurt you, they'll be dead before they know it."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"This is a really, really bad idea. This is suicide!" she hissed, burying her right hand in her jacket pocket as he reached for the switchblade.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't fight it. They'll be back soon! Besides, you’ve come this far. How far are you willing to go?" he argued, yanking her arm free and swiftly binding her right hand. "I'll leave your legs free," he decided as he produced a bandana.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I swear to God it's over between us! Friends don't use friends as vampire bait!" she screeched, growling as the cloth was pressed into her mouth and tied firmly behind her head.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Trust me," he whispered. "Besides, the way you've been talking, now you can really see if they mean well," he added, that jealous fire in his eyes sparking as he spoke. She glared at the bastard and tugged firmly at her wrists, but it was no good. She had to hand it to him, he had all his ducks in a row, but she could have done without him pulling out his pocketknife. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Calm</span>
  
  <span class="s1">down or you'll make me slip!" he shouted. She blinked in stunned pain when his hand clapped across her face. It wasn't a hard blow, but it sure as hell had no business happening in the first place. He was completely unconcerned and grabbed her ankle as she aimed it for his groin.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Without a word, he aimed the blade up her leg. She shuddered at the sound of ripping fabric as the side of her skirt was slit up to her waist. Jinny bit her lip, wincing at the sting as the very tip of the knife dug marks up her thigh, just enough to encourage tiny rivulets of blood to stream down her legs. Nodding at his handy work, Michael dug the tip into each forearm, and very carefully along her collar bone before glancing at her all splayed out in the wet skirt and body-hugging camisole she wore, chest heaving as she sucked in her breaths angrily.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Now you know why I wanted you to dress this way. The rain didn’t hurt, either. They won’t be able to ignore you," he admitted and she growled, wondering if he had been playing her all along. It wouldn't have surprised her. Who would have missed a nobody runaway if he had dragged her up there to lure the Lost Boys into some sort of trap?</span>
  <span class="s1">"They won't be able to resist a morsel like you," he added, smirking slightly as the blade gleamed close again. She held her breath and jumped as he nicked one breast, the crimson trickle oozing over her cleavage.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was insane. Fanatically determined to get them both killed. Like he could really take on all three at once, and with simple stakes! "Just lie back and relax," he told her, patting her cheek with a dark grin. I'll be around." And then the bastard actually walked off.</span>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0024"><h2>24. Flirting With Disaster</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The boys return to the cave and everything comes to a head</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>possible trigger warning for implications of dubious consent/assault, but nothing is followed through</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny squealed and struggled against her bonds, but the ropes were strong enough and she was compromised enough that there was no way she could tug free. After a few moments of struggling she laid back, panting, the switchblade still clamped tightly in her right palm. She leaned back and tried to look behind her, to see where in the shadows Michael had disappeared to. It was impossible to see him through the moss and billowing cloth and all of the nooks and corners in the cave. She would just have to hope he had his mind on other things.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>So that's what I get for trusting the nice ones</em>. Deep down all along she had known it was wrong, that it didn't feel right, but she had been so hungry and in desperate need, and the vampires sure as hell didn't offer to help until they’d decided she could be useful. <em>But I didn't exactly ask them, either</em>. <em>Who knows if it would have made a difference. </em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Either way, they hadn't exactly been fond of her, and now that irritation had upgraded to homicidal intent. She reigned her mind in and flicked the blade open, pivoting it so she could slip the blade under the rope. It was awkward and slow going. Her hand was throbbing when she suddenly heard the rush of wind and laughter. Without a word she withdrew the knife and snapped it shut, knowing it would be no good if she lost it right away.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>Michael Emmerson, you are so going to pay for this!</em>She tried to remain still and calm, tried to trust him and wait things out. And then as the three remaining vampires rushed into the main cavern she realized that it was total bullshit and it was every man for himself. She struggled briefly, hope swelling as the ropes on her right wrist began to fray and whine as she tugged. <em>I just need some time! </em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David laughed as they landed, stretched as if he was looking forward to spending a few hours lounging at home before turning in. "Nice work tonight, boys. Nothing like crashing a concert to set off an evening," he drawled, smirking as the others chuckled their agreement. But there was an emptiness there. He wasn't as in control as he usually was, and there was a melancholy that surrounded the other two.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Marko, my wine. We should toast our fallen brother," he sighed, then frowned. "Wait," he murmured, effectively stopping the youngest of the crew. A slow smile crossed his face. "I hear a heartbeat, and it's terrified," he whispered. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Guests at this hour? Lucky us,” Marko snickered.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny strained against the ropes as their eyes raked the room. She was half-hidden behind the gauzy curtain but she knew that wouldn't stop them from finding her. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I smell blood," David growled, slowly following the scent. She bit her lip and glanced down at the droplets that slid down her arms, that pooled on her breast and neck and tried to close her legs to cover the trickles on her thighs, but she only spread the mess.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She couldn't hear the footsteps as he approached, which made the tension even worse by time his silhouette formed on the other side of the filmy curtain. "Well, well. Who's been sleeping in my bed?" his voice sneered. David's hand slowly</span>
  
  <span class="s1">gripped the fabric and yanked. Jinny jumped against her bonds, heart fluttering as the snapping of rope blended with the shredding of fabric. She felt herself grow cold as the platinum blond appeared beside her, staring her down in his full glory.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Seems things are a little different this time," he chuckled, fingertip brushing over his face and she shuddered as she realized that he was wiping away blood from a kill.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"Couldn't stay away, huh?" he laughed. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny realized with humiliation that she was struggling to push herself up the bed, twisting to get away. It didn't do anything but push the skirt up her thighs, exposing the dripping blood</span>
  <span class="s1">as her arm struggled to release itself. She craned her head, looking for any sign of Michael. Nothing. He had promised not to let them near her! <em>And yet you still keep believing him. </em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David smirked and leaned over her, hand under her chin, squeezing just enough to make her break out into a sweat. "Don't worry, the others are here," he soothed, turning his head to nod to the other two, though she noticed that he cast a quick look around. Of course he'd realize there was someone else there. He wasn't a fool.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You can't hide, Michael. No matter what you bribe us with, we can still hear you." With a smirk he turned his attention back to Jinny and quickly moved his hand to tug off the gag. "You need to be more careful choosing your friends," he told her, shaking his head in disappointment. "I thought you were smarter than that. You of all people know that things aren't always what they seem. You've made a point of writing them that way," he added, tsking.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fuck you," she growled. She was already good as dead, might as well try to fight back while she still could.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His patient, barely-there smile infuriated her even more. "You write enough about that. You'd probably love to. Or have you not told your benefactor what really happens in your stories?" he asked, glancing behind him</span>
  <span class="s1">as Michael was hauled to the foreground by Dwayne and Marko. Neither vampire was gentle with the human. She shuddered at his pummeled face and the way they kept eyeing the blood that oozed from his mouth. "Did you tell him how you really felt about Paulie? That he was the one you wrote about the most? Sorry, Mike, but I don't think you ever made it into any of her work, or do I have that wrong?" David asked, grinning at her scowl. "Or what about how you were all over Dwayne when you had the chance?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I was delirious!" she protested.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The vampire was unphased and shrugged. "Not what I heard. I heard you were most adamant in your attentions. It would have been interesting if he'd only been awake," he replied, smirking as what had been just a spark of jealousy in Michael's eyes turned into an all-out blaze.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You're lying," he croaked.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Am I? I'll leave that up to you to figure out." David shook his head, disappointment clear on his face.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"Not your best plan, Michael," he scoffed, and as he turned his back to the bed she quickly began to work the ropes. "Too bad you don't have your little friends with you. Looks like you need teenage wannabes to get anything done."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You haven't won yet, David," he snarled and the vampire laughed.</span>
  
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I have both traitors in my midst and we didn't have to bring either of you here," he pointed out. "I think that means I've won. What made you think we'd be too distracted to notice you? We're patient when we have to be. And we're younger and faster than you can ever hope to be again," he added with a sneer.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You're damn evil!" Michael yelled, bucking against the two that held him. They laughed and pulled him back, Dwayne effectively clubbing him across the head. She winced as Michael went slightly limp, dazed from the blow.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Threatening your girlfriend to get your revenge doesn't exactly make you Santa Carla's poster boy, does it Mikey?" Marko sneered, shaking his head in disgust.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What a good, upright thing to do," David agreed. "Or maybe she doesn’t really understand how much you’ve been playing her, does she?” Jinny frowned and looked to where Michael had frozen. “Didn’t you ever stop to wonder why he seemed to be in particularly good shape decades later? Why we’ve had to bide our time and save him for last? Why you never see him during the day?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny’s stomach dropped. <em>No. How could I have missed that?!</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Just shut up!”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Come on, Mikey, if you crave honesty so much you should let your little pet know that she’s been taking a place of your Renfield while you’re still a half,” Dwayne snickered.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I dunno, bro, if I was too pussy to see it through I’d hide, too,” Marko snorted. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“But he…that can’t be!” she stammered.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David grinned broadly, relishing the plot twist she hadn’t seen coming. “He just couldn’t stay away afterwards, once he’d found out our little trick. I’ll spare you the details, but let’s just say he’s still bound to me, thought it could level the playing field to help his little revenge scheme.”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Never was the brightest,” Dwayne agreed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Michael?” she whispered. She could barely see him around David, but his posture had slumped, his eyes ashamed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“If he didn’t use you to get back at us, you probably would’ve been his long-overdue first kill,” David sighed. “I don't know about you, girl, but I wouldn't plan the wedding on a basis like that," he sighed, shaking his head in disappointment. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>It was never about you. Nothing is about you. You’ve always been on your own, just like you feared. You’ve got to get yourself out of this now. </em>She pursed her lips, stared up at David until he shrugged at her lack of response and turned his attention back to his nemesis.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't you get it, Michael? You can't win. Hurting her isn't going to change any of this. Being bound to me or being a half vampire won’t change anything. We don’t want you anymore, anyway. It won't bring anything back," he added</span>
  <span class="s1">as he turned towards her again. Her hand froze and she wondered how he didn't see her blatant escape attempt, didn't hear the knife working against the rope. "But we won't kill either of you right away, will we boys?" he asked, smirking at some unseen joke. Her heart seized in her chest as Dwayne</span>
  
  <span class="s1">came up on her other side, a dark leer on his face.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span"><em>Oh God. No. </em>He’d always intimidated her, but for very different reasons. Now, he straight up terrified her. </span>
  <span class="s1">Her eyes widened and she tried to tilt her body away, mouth running away without her brain. "Please. Let me go, I didn't mean..." she quickly pursed her mouth shut. It was stupid to plead for mercy when they clearly didn't intend to give it.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Should've left her gag, man," Marko snorted and David grinned.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Nah, I want to hear her beg." He turned to glance over at Michael, but she didn't dare move her arm with Dwayne right there. She froze as his hand slowly ran up her leg, moving aside each section of skirt to reveal her panties underneath. His face gave nothing away, though his nostrils flared at the scent of her blood.  "I think it would be fun to have her beg, don't you Michael?" he asked, watching as the human raised his head to give him a dangerous look, the vampire's dark laughter bubbling up easily.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Stop, please!" she whispered, shuddering violently as Dwayne’s hand gripped her thigh and squeezed.</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space"> She winced as his skin connected with the cut there, shuddered when he brought his palm up to his mouth and licked it clean.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-converted-space">“Fuck, that’s good. I’m going to enjoy this,” the dark haired vampire sighed.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"They always say stop. And you listened when she said that, didn't you?" David sneered, clapping a hand on Michael's shoulder as he began to regain his strength, though Marko held him firmly. "And you did stop, didn't you? Lucky for us we're evil monsters with no souls so we don't have to play by those rules," he said, voice oozing sarcasm.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You stay away from her, don't you touch her!" Michael bit out, pulling towards her. It was too little too late. She didn't bother to look at him. He couldn't protect her now, probably never intended to. She could only close her eyes and wait for it to be over, wait to die. <em>You knew pretty fast this is what would happen. Why are you so surprised? </em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Not only are we going to touch her, Michael, but you're going to watch," David told him. Her eyes flew open. Dwayne sat easily on the bed beside her, and she tried to squirm away from where his hip rested near her torso. He didn't give her a chance, head ducking down to swipe the drying beads of blood off her breast. His tongue was warmer than she’d expected and she jumped against her bonds. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Please, I get it, I get I deserve to die, but please,” she whispered. Dwayne’s eyes slid up to hers and he raised a brow.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You make your choices, chica. What you get is up to you.” She frowned at the strange remark, winced when he drew hard on the wound on her collar bone. She couldn’t even pretend that it was anything but her imminent death or else she would have been outrageously turned on. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David snickered. "I want you to see what you couldn't get, and hear her loving it even as she breathes her last."</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Please...no...I never meant for...please!" she whispered, twisting out of Dwayne's reach only to have him tug her back, a low growl in his throat as he lapped the blood from her forearm.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't piss me off, girl. You've done enough of that already," he warned, hand pressing on her middle to hold her still. She winced at the slight pain as he drew the blood from the tiny cuts, knew it would hurt so much more when they stopped playing with her. "Besides, your boyfriend did such a nice job of gift wrapping you for us. I'm not one to turn down an invitation," he added, grinning to his fangs.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Paul shouldn't miss this," Marko suggested and David smirked.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You're right, Marko. That's a brilliant idea. Go get him."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She frowned, shaking as Dwayne pressed a fang against her skin, gliding the tip up her arm just hard enough for her to feel the damage it could do.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Michael was screaming, and David grabbed him as he charged forward when Marko went to follow</span>
  
  <span class="s1">his command. David easily gripped him hard about the neck and chest, Michael's arms struggling to break the rest of him free. Dwayne laughed and ground the fang right into her pulse point. Pressure and the beginnings of pain flowed through her with every beat of the vein and she shuddered, any hope of orgasm washing away with the icy fear.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You think this is cruel, Michael? Just wait till you see what else I have planned. And it's all what she wants,” Dwayne chuckled. “She was all over me a few weeks ago, weren't you, girl? I bet you thought I didn’t notice, but I plan on finishing that little interlude," Dwayne laughed, lips moving against her palm before he ground the fang back over the wrist. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She frowned as his teeth grazed right over the rope's weakest spot, shredding what was left. He met her gaze straight on, but his eyes were unreadable, his palm holding her wrist instead, though without the force she’d expected. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"That's a lie!" Michael hissed, though his malice didn't exclude her prone form, either.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"So you think you had no hand in this at all, huh?" David asked her, turning to take a small box about the size of an urn from Marko. Upon closer inspection she realized it was a gilded cigar box. "We make do with what he have," he added, shrugging. "But you think you had no impact, no real sway on things. Maybe you'd like to see what happened to Paulie and not just because of him," he growled, nodding to Michael. "We knew he was a traitor. But you encouraged him, told him enough to inspire him. And now look at what happened to our brother!" he said coldly, flinging open the lid before over-turning the box.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">Jinny </span>
  <span class="s1">screamed as the ashes flooded the air, choking her and Michael, the only two who actually needed to breathe. Through the dust that floated up into her eyes she saw the small pile of what had been Paul deposited neatly on the bed between her legs. She did her best to lurch up out of Dwayne's grip but he held her down. He had to have seen the glint of the switchblade, but he still kept eyeing her with that same prodding expression. She shuddered and stared down the length of her body at the pile of dust, bile acrid in her mouth as she thought of what that had once been, as she remembered his bravado, his laughter, and his loveable indecency.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <em>The worst part is you're the only one who can do a damn thing to rectify this, and you've sided with the biggest asshole in Santa Carla...</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I'm tired of games. Take her, make it a good show," David muttered, flinging the box out of range, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched Dwayne reach for his belt.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Michael screamed so loud it made her sit straight up, horrified at the rage on his face. David started to turn, but Michael was already lunging and somehow he’d gotten a stake in his hand.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0025"><h2>25. Revelations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny and Michael face off against the Lost Boys...or do they?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She tried to buck against Dwayne and realized he wasn't there. He and Marko both were rushing to their leader's side, but for once they seemed to be too slow for the enraged half vampire. Jinny acted purely out of instinct as the knife flicked open and she cut through the bindings on her other wrist before diving off the bed and onto David. He tensed in shock but she pushed him out of the way and grabbed madly for the hunk of wood that came flying down at her face.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Mary!" Michael gasped, trying to slow himself at the last minute.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">She braced herself and took the stake in both hands, twisting with her full body weight. It clattered to the floor and skidded a few feet away. "What the hell are you doing?!" Michael screamed, diving towards the weapon. She threw herself on top of him. The air was knocked clean out of her as they hit the floor, but that didn't stop her from yanking his head back by the hair and pressing the knife to his throat.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Touch any of them and you die, Michael," she whispered hoarsely, breathing so hard that her lungs burned.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He winced but was still trying to work her off his back. "But Mary!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shut up!" she snarled, pressing the blade harder against the tender skin. She had never felt so savage, so hateful, but deep down she knew it was legitimate. It was right.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"I was wrong! I was stupid, I just wanted help, that's all I wanted! But I was wrong. Paul didn't deserve to die, and I'm sure as hell not going to let you take any of the others!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His breath was coming in sharp pants and he was very still. "They'll kill you, they don't care about anything-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I’m as good as dead no matter what happens, aren’t I? And you're wrong," she said firmly, shaking with how hard she was holding onto him. "You don't hurt them. I never wanted them hurt, I just..." <em>What did I really want? </em>Deep down she knew but wasn't about to admit it, especially when it was all in the realms of fantasy, especially now. This was real, and this certainly wasn't what she wanted. She collected herself as Michael tried to wriggle out from under her. "You touch them, I kill you. Whatever happens after that happens. I’m sure they’ll give me a stake if I need it to end you.  That's all there is to it. I've chosen my side even if it means I die with you."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her body was tensed to spring and her mindset had never been more serious, so it came as a complete surprise when Michael began to laugh. It was an odd laughter that bubbled through his whole body, a laughter born from relief and not lunacy or ill intent.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Score, I knew you wouldn't let us down!" he gasped and she frowned, but didn't dare release her grip.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"W-what?" Her brow furrowed as she stared down at his dark hair, as if she'd find the answers somehow buried in his scalp.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Bravo," David agreed, coming to their side. "Though it took you long enough," he added.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fuck, can I get up now, bro?" Michael asked, wincing as he tried to move and she struggled to hang onto him.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah, go ahead, if you can shake off Killer there," David remarked, smirking as Michael got to his feet easily, carefully plucking the knife from her hand.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No!" Jinny gasped, digging her knees into his hips so she was riding the half vampire’s back when he stood. "Wait...you're on the same side?!" <em>A plot twist within a plot twist? Have they been playing me the whole time by recruiting Michael?!</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Good work, chica, we knew you'd eventually have it in you," Dwayne told her, chuckling as she lost her grip and tumbled from Michael's back right into his arms.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Wait...but you...and he..." she frowned, stammering as she looked from Dwayne to David to Marko to Michael. "What the fuck is going on?!"</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David laughed, thankfully sparing her the ritual comeback. "The short version is</span>
  
  <span class="s1">you passed. With flying colors."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I...huh?" She had totally lost it. Usually she was queen of complicated plot twists, but for once she was in the middle of one that was completely over her head.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We had to test your loyalty, make sure we could trust you," Marko explained. "Which wouldn't have happened but you tried to run and wouldn’t just fucking talk to us, and that smear campaign didn't help your case," he pointed out. She bit her lip, glowering at him even though she knew he was right.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"And we didn't know exactly how much control you had," David admitted. "We only had what you told us to go by. We couldn't exactly let you go running off to God knows where if you had all that power over us."</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Glad you chose right, girl, didn't want to have to kill you," Michael admitted, giving her an appreciative look. "Didn't want to, but it would've been a protection thing. You understand," he added as if he was talking about a slight schedule change and not the course of her life.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No, I don't understand! Okay, okay. So I made shit up, but how was I to know what you'd do when you just sent a girl - and one of my characters at that - off a damn cliff! Fine, I passed your little test! What does that even mean?  And yes, I made some mistakes but I was a little out of my head and you were trying to kill me! And...why the hell are you all on the same side?! And why are you talking like that?! " she shouted, head aching from the confusion. Her volume didn't help matters, but she just couldn't stop her mouth.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Breathe. The more you just accept it and stop trying to analyze it, the easier it'll be. Yeah, it's twisted and fucked up, but that’s how we work," Marko told her, smirking slightly, actually reaching over to ruffle her hair. "Even you." She narrowed her eyes at his hand and glanced to Michael, still unsure why he was so relaxed in the Lost Boys' presence.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David glanced at Michael and shook his head. "Drop the act. You’re just freaking her out now,," he grumbled.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Sorry, dude, habit," Michael admitted. "You think it's any easier wearing it? Glad I can't look in a mirror, I would've been tempted to stake myself," he added, making a face before he went calm, closing his eyes. Jinny inhaled as her brain suddenly felt as if it was moving, her temples and the muscles of her eyes throbbing for an intense moment. When she opened them her jaw dropped as Michael Emmerson's visage faded away as if it had been a ghost, no, more like a costume, for behind the mask stood...</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No...how-" She couldn't speak, could find no words to declare her relief, her confusion, and fury at having been duped. All she could do was stand there looking at Paul in shock, struggling to stay on her own two feet.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shit, be careful when you do that. You don't want to hurt her," Marko told the formerly deceased vampire, shaking his head as he steadied her with a hand on her back. "Hey, it's okay! He's fine."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"But...but..." She shook her head, torn between wanting to throw her arms around him and wanting to smack that grin right off his damn face. "Really?" she asked warily, squinting as she looked at Paul, trying to make sure it wasn't just some bizarre trick of the light. She had thought she had seen him other times, but this was too much.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Though it made sense. He could mind-trick her into seeing him on the bike, or seeing him in a crowd. Michael had only showed up in the daytime on overcast days. Plus there were the sunglasses and his comments on</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space"> i</span>
  <span class="s1">nvitations...and that strange taint to him. Hell, Paul had practically laid the clues out for her on a platter when he had talked to her outside the coffee shop. And 'Michael' had told her all about their mind tricks! She had been a complete idiot not to notice any of it. Or too close to the situation.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"But if you're...then who owns the coffee shop?" she managed, shaking her head dumbly.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul shrugged sheepishly "Yeah, we’ll have to do something about that now, I guess. Michael did but...well...I'm kind of glad you never had to look in the safe," he admitted.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You stuffed him in his office?!" she managed, voice shaking at the thought of how close she'd been to a corpse for weeks.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What? It's a big safe!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fine, whatever, but...why?!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We had to put up a challenge to know if we could trust you. You were ready to leave town! We had to do something to keep you here. You weren't about to come to us willingly," Marko explained gently, glancing at the others, tension in the set of his jaw.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Plus once we figured out you were planning to rob Michael’s business, it was an easy excuse to finally put him out of his misery,” David admitted. “The half thing wasn’t made up. We let him go because it was more fun to let him suffer his stupid choices long term, but I’m glad to finally be rid of him.”</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She shook her head, hand on her temple, the other pointing at Paul. "You mean this whole time he's been..."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Live and well, babe, and right beside ya," Paul agreed proudly.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She started to talk, had to take a long breath. She made sure she wasn't going to pass out or start shaking. "You mean that all of this...well, most of it," she went on, stammering between words, struggling to put them together.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What about it?" Dwayne asked, frowning as he leaned towards her, glancing at the others in concern. The demented, violent bloodlust was gone and he cradled her shoulders like he was afraid she’d pass out. "Are you alright?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David hissed in frustration. "Paul, I swear if your transition gave her a nervous breakdown-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Nah, it’s just the thrill of seeing me," he shot back, though he was losing his grin at her pale face.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"She's just in shock, maybe you should have her sit down,” Marko told them, and Jinny let herself be steered to the edge of the fountain and pressed gently down onto the ledge. “It’s okay, seriously. We got you,” he soothed, kneeling in front of her like he hadn’t just been laughing about her inevitable murder. "What is it, this whole time what?" he encouraged.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She took another breath and let it out, calming briefly. "You mean...this whole time..." She took another breath and lost it. "<b><em>This whole time I’ve been going through hell for fucking nothing?!</em></b>" she bellowed and Marko winced, rubbing his ear.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shit," he muttered. "Worse than a meltdown. She's pissed."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">
    <b>
      <em>“Of course I’m pissed! I’ve ate out of a dumptster for weeks and going through hell and nearly gave myself up to Michael because of some test of loyalty? Where the hell were you when I needed you? All along I’ve been baited and played for some fucking test!?”</em>
    </b>
  </span>
  <span class="s1">she screamed, fists curling as she glared at them all, wincing at the hand that quickly covered her mouth.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Not for nothing!" David told her firmly, quickly moving his hand away before she could bite it. "In the beginning we didn't know if you were staying here to fuck with us or what. You had to know what we really were, what we were capable of. And we had no clue what you were going through, you wouldn't let us find you! A lot of that were the consequences of your own damn decisions! And when we did try to help you, you ran away!!"</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Because he tried to kill me!" she hissed, nodding to Paul.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shit, are you going to bring that up every five seconds?" Paul sighed. "I apologized! And can I remind you that you've been living with me for weeks and I haven't laid a mitt on you? You haven't been molested, violated, harmed, maimed, sacrificed, killed, drank from, or even nibbled on. And believe me that last one was the hardest to resist," he added, smirking. "And I even cooked for you!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Holy shit, you actually cook?" Dwayne managed between rounds of laughter.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shut up, I'm a great cook!" Paul shot back defensively.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I'm hurt, man, truly. You don't even cook for me," Dwayne retorted.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"That's because I don't like you!" Paul shot back, sticking his tongue out at his packmate. The jabs kept coming but she couldn't enjoy them.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She shook her head, clearly not impressed. "But if you're alive," she muttered, glancing at Paul. "Then who's..." she trailed off, nodding to the ashes.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You have no idea how many cigars it takes to make a dead vampire," Dwayne muttered, the disgust of the experience clear on his face. "I'm glad I'm already dead or that would've killed me."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Hey, it could've been worse. Those were good quality cigars, man!" Paul interjected and she closed her eyes and counted. Somehow their banter was always funnier when she wasn't involved.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She shook her head, anger and distrust warring with the relief she felt. Paul was alive. The weird ordeal was over. It was all over and she was still alive. <em>But they said they would have killed you if you hadn't chosen right. They came very close</em>. <em>What's to say they won't go ahead and gain your trust, use you and kill you? They know now you can't hurt them and you can't do anything for them! What is there to stop them from wiping you out?</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She shuddered and stood, her fight or flight system kicking in with a vengeance. Jinny tensed, trying not to squirm as Marko stood with her, hands on her shoulders. "I've got to go," she whispered. She didn't want to leave, didn't want to at all, but if they could fool her once, she could still wake up a corpse.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Not again," David sighed. "You're not going anywhere. No more of this running shit! We know you're stuck here and you came here willingly and sided with us! So I'm going to make this really easy for you," he added, walking into her personal space, expressionless but with eyes glittering.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"You're staying with us now."</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"But...but..." She stammered, glancing to the others before shaking her head. "I can't, I don't belong here, I-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You don't have any other place. We're the only ones you know here. We mostly get along except when we're trying to outdo and ruin each other out of pride. We really haven't given it a chance. And you don't really have a choice, Jinny," he replied and she gaped at the use of her real name. "And we've still got business to finish up," he went on, and Jinny began to feel a sudden chill at those words.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <em>See you idiot? They're out to kill you...run!</em>
  </span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space">
    
  </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Marko's hands tightened on her and she did her best to stay still. "You've given us a lot of trouble," David sighed, thoughtfully grinding one hand into the other. "It's obvious you've had a hard time, but there's no denying you could stand to learn a few lessons...and manners," he added, smirking at her narrowed eyes before his gaze suddenly landed on Paul. "I can only imagine how</span>
  
  <span class="s1">traumatic it was having to act that part," he admitted, shuddering. "You deserve a reward," he added, grinning as the other vampire's face lit up and Jinny's eyes widened.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What kind of reward?" she asked warily. <em>I have a bad, bad feeling about this.</em>It would have been fine had it been in a book she could close or a story she could put away, but if David was going where she thought he was going...</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I was thinking he needs some companionship, someone to ease the pain of having to have lived as that asshole. How ‘bout it, Paulie? You did great work, you've earned it. You want a plaything?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Dude, I've always wanted a pet!" the blond cheered and Jinny shook with rage and embarrassment.</span>
  
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-converted-space">“David,” Dwayne warned, his expression shutting down as soon as the pronouncement was made.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You can't just do that!" she spat, lunging at the lead vampire, growling as Marko easily restrained her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"He's the leader, he can," Marko admitted.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"But he's not <em>my</em>leader," she protested.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David raised an eyebrow, grin broadening. "You know, she's got quite a personality," he added, shoulders slightly in suppressed laughter as she made a face at him. "You weren't exactly kind to Dwayne, either," he mused, glancing over at the vampire in question before glancing back at Paul. "What about it, can you two share?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What?!" she squeaked, too stunned to try to break free. She looked on in shock as the two vampires looked at each other, clearly startled with David's choice.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"If you can play nice you can both have her," he added.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“I’m not a trophy!”</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She swallowed hard as they looked at her, expressions unreadable, and then at each other. "I think we need to talk about it first," Dwayne finally said, unease clear on his face.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David nodded, as unconcerned with their reaction. "Take your time."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">
    <em>He’s sadistic. Truly, utterly cruel. </em>
  </span>
  <span class="s1">They weren't going to kill her, they were going to annihilate her from the inside out, starting with the destruction of every bit of fragile confidence she had. It would be Becky, but a million times worse. Jinny wasn't blind, she knew she wasn't either vampire's usual fare. David would force the issue until she became a raw bundle of nerves and she couldn’t do anything about it. That had to be it. He'd keep pushing until she walked right off a cliff, the author going the same way her character did.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All she</span>
  <span class="s1">could do was watch mutely as the blond and brunette ducked into the shadows briefly, knowing for certain that she had been right in the first place: neither of them would really want her.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ahaha, so yeah, hope you've had fun with these twists and turns! Comments and kudos always appreciated and thanks to everyone who's read so far!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0026"><h2>26. Negotiations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Paul and Dwayne discuss the new turn of events and stumble upon a startling discovery</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">As soon as the two vampires were cloaked within the shadows they stood looking at each other, tentatively judging the other's reaction. Paul did his best to seem casual, but there was something decidedly territorial in the way he looked at his best friend. Dwayne’s face was neutral, but the spark of challenge glittered in his eyes. "So. What d’ya wanna do?" Paul asked, trying to gauge his friend's intent. From the way Dwayne was assessing him he was clearly doing the same.</span>
</p><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Finally Dwayne broke the stare with a shake of his head and a sigh. "We both want her, don't we?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul frowned. It was not exactly what he had in mind. He seriously doubted that Dwayne had foreseen this</span>
  
  <span class="s1">possibility, either, for that matter. Either way, he wasn't backing down. "Look, if it's just to get her back for-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You know that's not it. I have my moments, but come on," Dwayne interrupted, giving him a look. "I could say it's just about wanting what you couldn't get to before or trying to soothe your guilty conscience, but that's not true, either."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul nodded. "Point. I can't explain it. Or maybe I don't want to," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Why the hell would David do this, anyway? I didn't think he wanted her killed off or broken."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne shook his head. "He doesn't.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">He knows the last time it strained the pack, so he wouldn't do this without reason. He wouldn't put us against each other. He's political, but not with us. This isn’t like with Becky.  This is something else."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah, I agree. And she needs help. I mean, look at her, she's a wreck!" Even though she wouldn't see them from her vantage point, both leaned forward to take a good look at her silhouette. She was tightly wound on a good day, but now she was especially anxious, constantly checking to see if there was a way around David.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"And not just from living on the streets, either. Something’s gone on there, and it’s a deep wound. You're right. She needs a firm hand and a lot of attention to help correct the damage she's done to herself. It's gonna take a lot of work and probably not gonna be easy," Dwayne replied, giving his friend a pointed look as they turned back to each other. "I know sometimes you're not exactly patient-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul tried to suppress the growl but couldn't help his fangs sliding down. If it came down to a territory battle, he was going to put up one hell of a fight, especially after all he had gone through. "And you hole up and go all distant when you don’t get your way half the time. I don't see what she is to you, man. She gives you hell and you keep coming back for more!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne shrugged, the gesture having none of the smooth confidence he was famous for. He seemed composed, but Paul didn't take his eyes off his friend for a second. He knew how fast the other vampire could move, and how accurate and vicious he could be when provoked. "I can't explain it, but...something happened," he added softly, clearly uncomfortable with the way things were going. "I...that night she ran away, remember how she bit me?" His packmate nodded warily. "I can still feel it. All the time, even though it's healed. Especially when I'm trying to forget with someone else," he sighed, shaking his head. “All those times when I was supposed to taunt her and scare her to herd her into action, I mean I did the job but I also <em>wanted</em>to see her. I don’t think I could stay away if I tried.”</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The blond frowned so hard it showed up all over his face. "What the hell? Humans don't mark vampires," Paul said, perplexed.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Remember what Marko said, though. She may not have known what she was doing. I don't think she'd do it randomly. Or if she would, if it would have the same effect. I doubt she even realizes that she had the ability, honestly. I don't know if she ever sunk her teeth into David or Marko-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Dude, don't mention that, I don't even want to think about that," Paul muttered darkly, glancing behind him.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne raised an eyebrow. "She got you, too, didn't she? I'll be damned."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I was still posing as dipshit, though," he sighed. "She didn't know it was me."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne's face grew thoughtful. "But did she...was it like she couldn't stop herself?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">The blond nodded. </span>
  <span class="s1">"Yeah, it was weird. I hadn't pegged her for something like that. The moment came up, and you know me, I decided to push a little, and bam, teeth on my neck. It was hot," the blond admitted. "I had to fake being traumatized by it for fear I'd come on the spot."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">Dwayne smirked. </span>
  <span class="s1">"Yeah, try suffering that in your daysleep. And you keep...it's always there, reminding you?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah, sometimes more than others. Doesn't hurt, but feels fresh," Paul agreed, raising an eyebrow. "You think it's possible?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I think David knew exactly what he was doing," Dwayne told him, going thoughtfully silent for a while.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"Both of us."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The blond calmed slightly. He wasn't thrilled, but a mating bond wasn't exactly something that could be argued with. They were rare as it was, and rarer still between more than two participants. At least it was his best friend and not some random stranger, or even one of the others. He could deal with sharing with Dwayne if it came to it. "And it's no fluke?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All Paul got from the question was a small smile. "Fate doesn't make mistakes. I mean, why would she have accidentally shoot herself in the foot so many times? She's smarter than that. Why would she not notice the obvious signs when she was living with you as Michael? Why would she be driven out of her head by the thought of your death after what happened, or be compelled to even come near me at any time at all? Hell, why would she even be here?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul nodded, the surge of initial envy fading away into possibility. "I just hope...fuck, this is something I never saw coming. That’s a huge ass commitment,” he sighed. “And I don't want her to think we're exactly what she writes, y'know?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne cast another glance towards the waiting writer. "Yeah. She has her own preconceptions of us, and they're not all right. She already thinks we're only after her for blood and revenge."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Well, we were in the beginning...kind of. I dunno, man, her showing up changed a lot," Paul replied.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The brunette raised an eyebrow. "That's why you tried to kill her. You didn't want to be compromised." Paul didn't have to nod, the slight guilty shift of his weight confirmed Dwayne's hypothesis. "Paul, she won't change who we really are. Just like we're going to have to accept that she's...different, but as real as we are. She’s not some magic creature come to fuck with us. I think that's what she's terrified of, being seen for what she really is.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Like you said, she's a wreck. We're going to have to start back at square one. The only things we even really know about her are from what we saw when we were playing this damn game and from what she's let slip. The only thing we really have in common now is that we're all wary of each other, tired of jumping through hoops, and happen to be drawn together by something we don't understand."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul nodded, digesting the arguments slowly. "I think that's the most I've ever heard you say in my life," he finally muttered. "Do you think it's going to be worth it, though? I mean...I'm sure we could have a fun time, but...it's not worth all that work just for a great fuck." He groaned and tangled a hand in his hair. "Shit, I must be getting old, I'm starting to think on a long-term basis."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne snorted. "Just because we don't age doesn't mean we don't wise up. But I know, I don't want it to blow up in my face, either. I think we'll have to be very careful." He smirked slightly at Paul's disenchanted expression. "I didn't say we can't have fun tonight. Fuck knows what’ll happen if we try to fight consummating it while all being so close to each other. I think if we don't come on strong at first, she'll run for it. Besides, if we keep her busy we may stop that over-thinking part of her brain."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"God yes!" Paul nearly screamed. "I've lived with that day in and day out for way too long. It’s time to put that to rest. Though not too much," he added, shrugging at Dwayne's amused look. "Well, you get used to conversation after a while."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You've actually started talking to women instead of using their mouth just for blow jobs. You get a gold star, man, I'm proud of you."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shut up," Paul grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Doesn't mean I didn't jerk off afterwards. But yeah, this is going to take a lot of convincing," he admitted.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne nodded his agreement. "For both of us. She's not going to trust either of us to start. Your moment is more obvious, but she was scared shitless when I was by her tied to the bed, even though I helped free her. I freak her out for some reason, even though she’s drawn to me. We're each going to have to overcome a lot of opposition with her," Dwayne pointed out. "If we do this, we're really going to have to work together and not fuck it up."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You really serious about this?" Paul asked. "You think we can?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne shrugged. "I'm willing if you are. It won't be easy. It won't happen all at once and we'll probably always have to deal with some things. It's not like the others. We're not looking to kill her once we're done. It's a new concept for both of us."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah. Maybe it's something we all need," Paul finished, considering Dwayne with hesitation, unwilling to add the deeper feelings that he was sure they both felt.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah. We just have to make her realize she needs it," he sighed. "And wants it."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul smirked. "I think we can work that out soon enough. It'll keep coming up, though. And we should have some ground rules with the others."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne's mouth tightened and his eyes grew close to red. "Hell yes. Otherwise she'll compare it to Becky, and it'll go straight to the gutter." Dwayne smiled slightly, relaxing as his mind started to harp on the possibilities as well as the responsibility. "So, we in this together then?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You got it, through thick and thin," Paul replied, grin full of glee and intent.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0027"><h2>27. Communication Breakdown</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny learns just what's in store for her with the Lost Boys.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You can't do this!" Jinny’s glared at David. <em>This can’t be happening.</em>There had to be a way out, something she wasn’t thinking of, but her mind was stuck on blank and Marko and David were paying too much attention for her to attempt escape. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David rolled his eyes. "Will you calm down? It's not that bad, trust me."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Why, have you been a fuck toy for vampires lately?" She gulped as he leaned into her, eyes narrowed.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You think you know us so well, don't you? You think that's what all this is about: manipulation and sex. Well it's like you've come to figure out, you don't have control here and it bugs the shit out of you, doesn't it? Now you're kept guessing as much as the rest of us. You have no choice but to take part and hope things turn out for the best. This isn't your world, Jinny. You didn't create this. You were allowed to play here and some of your ideas came true, but now we're even in that we each have to use only our actions to get our way. And that drives you crazy!" he observed, shaking his head.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shut up," she mumbled lamely, hating that he was so insightful.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I know we've had our moments, but that isn't a vampire thing. We're in tune with our darker side, but being manipulative is a trademark of humanity, too.” He sighed. “I’m not making decisions blindly. I have reasons you won't understand just yet, can't understand until you relax a little. And maybe if you'd really think on it you'd realize that you want it, bad, but won't admit to it," he told her, his eyes holding hers until the last bit when he smirked his dismissive little smile.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I don't want to be raped and killed!" she insisted and he rolled his eyes with a little more vehemence.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"It's always extreme with you, isn't it? Have you seen us force anyone? We’re not about that. We have to eat to stay alive!" he snapped. His face softened slightly when she jumped" And we haven't exactly given you reason to chill out and see beneath the surface," he admitted. "But you'll have lots of time to learn. They'd probably treat you like damn royalty if they can get their act together," he added, mostly to himself. It was an attempt to reassure her, but she wouldn't believe a statement like that on her most gullible day.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">
    <em>They’ll have their fun and he’ll get off watching you be destroyed. </em>
  </span>
  <span class="s1">"You can't do this to me! I'm not one of you!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">He blinked. </span>
  <span class="s1">"And who the hell else is going to take care of you here? I’m not gonna play games for the rest of my life just so you can hedge a bet."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her glare was scathing and she was surprised he didn't smack her across the cave. "I'm not interested in the type of care taking that you all know of.  You don't have control of me, I'm not some damn character!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A slow, satisfied smile crept across David’s face. "See, that's the beauty of things. Neither are we."</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space"> He </span>
  <span class="s1">raised his gaze as the other two returned from their conversation, quite content with themselves. Maybe they were trying to let her down lightly. She dreaded David's proposal, but if they said no, what would happen to her? If the only choice was that or death, her odds weren’t good.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Well, boys, you going to accept or are we going to have to resort to a plan B?" the leader asked,  pulling out a cigarette and lighting it as he waited for their answer. Jinny shuddered at the flecks of ashes that darted from the end, felt momentarily queasy before she remembered that those other ashes hadn't really been Paul. No, the real Paul was in front of her, staring at her with way too much interest. That had always been her cue to run or deflect or <em>something, </em>but there were no good options left.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny instinctively took a step back, uneasy of the conspiratorial smiles that lay in front of her. David's hands rested lightly on her shoulder and hip stopping her escape. There was nothing particularly dangerous in this gesture, yet the fact that he even bothered to put his hands on her let her know that she shouldn't try a thing. She cast a glance to Marko and found that his eyes were sympathetic, but he didn’t look particularly worried. <em>Why should he? He’s on the winning side.</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"So how ‘bout it? You</span>
  
  <span class="s1">gonna be good and share?" Jinny shivered at how his words went right into her ear. That mouth with those damning words was far too close. She almost feared what he said more than his incisors. Almost. She struggled to keep her mind clear, intent on where David's mouth was in relation to her nearest artery.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The Bobsie twins glanced at each other before nodding. "Yeah, we talked it over. We're both willing," Dwayne told him. Jinny gasped and stepped further back against David, as if he'd actually consider protecting her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Dude, I'm more than willing!" Paul laughed and she shuddered at David's chuckle.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She could hear the grin in his response. "Good."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"But we have a few stipulations," Dwayne added, taking a step from the shadows. She swallowed and stayed motionless as David raised his cigarette past her ear to his mouth and slowly exhaled, the smoke grazing down over her cheek.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh really?" She could feel the ripple of irritation at being questioned from him, but it was obvious he'd hear them out.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"If she's ours, she's ours," Dwayne went on. "Not like last time. Neither one of us would stand to let anyone else touch her. We decide what she does."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David remained calm and there was only bored acceptance of this demand. "Fair enough. I hadn't planned that, anyway. I’m not interested and I doubt Marko is. But in terms of the good of the group-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You're still pack leader, man. Just no changes for amusement," Paul spoke up and David nodded.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Anything else?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No manipulations with her between us," Dwayne said nodding to Paul. They were tense, unused to questioning him in a confrontation. It was obvious the memory of Becky hadn’t been totally forgotten, as much as they’d tried to brush it off. The whole thing struck Jinny as plain crazy.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I wouldn't want anything to come between any of us. We're family," David said firmly, staring hard at them. He squeezed his shoulder and the gesture threw her. Surely he wasn’t including her in the statement, so what was he up to?  "That wasn't why I did it," he offered and she frowned, thoroughly confused as to his real motivation.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul nodded. "Yeah, we know." Her perked, glanced at Marko as he dug in his pockets. "Here, she's going to need stuff," he grunted, pulling out a chic leather wallet that definitely wasn't his. "You mind?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Nah, I have a feeling it'll be quieter out of the cave tonight," Marko snickered, reaching for the billfold before accepting a small roll of bills from Dwayne. "What do you want me to look for?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"As much as I hate it, she'll need clothes," Dwayne replied, and Jinny couldn't quite tell if he was teasing or not.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"This can't be happening," she muttered, frowning as David squeezed her shoulder again.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You'll be fine. They'll take good care of you if you trust them," he murmured in her ear and she bit back a bitter laugh.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah, make 'em good clothes, too," Paul added, brow furrowing as he struggled to put his preference into words. "Like, not so she's advertising, but not all that conservative preppy or Wal-Mart shit, either."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Hey!" Jinny growled.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“And food, she'll have to eat. We'll take that as we can," Dwayne reasoned.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“We can rig up something with a generator, I’m sure, but for the short-term get me a list of carry-out places you want,” Marko agreed.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What, you two can't sustain her on protein on your own?" David laughed and she slowly realized the fluid in question he was suggesting wasn't blood. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh ew,” she blanched. At the very least it would be an interesting experience living with four guys. <em>If I’m allowed to live past the evening. This could all be a giant ruse – look at what they pulled with Not Michael! </em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Girl crap, too," Paul added. "She wouldn't let me indulge her when I was posing as the dipshit, but now her manners don't count. I want her to have</span>
  
  <span class="s1">makeup, bath gunk, all that fun stuff that every woman needs. Or if she doesn’t want it, that’s cool too, but she needs some fun stuff."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You sound like a circular for Bath and Body Works," Marko sighed, shaking his head.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Dude, have you seen their semi-annual clearance? You can pick up a lot of willing babes if you come off as the sensitive type," Paul went on, realizing too late what had come out of his mouth. "I mean..."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Why don't you take a cue from Dwayne and just stop talking?" David offered.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"At any rate, how the hell am I supposed to buy shit like that? That stuff's impossible to pick out!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I don't know, get in touch with your feminine side something," Paul snorted. "But for the sake of this trip just get everything scented sweet pea," he added, and tossed her a wink when he said it. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny couldn't hide her amazement. <em>How did he know? </em>She hadn't worn it in what seemed like eons, how would anyone even be able to link that scent to her?</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul had moved away from the topic of bath products and tossed Marko a slip of paper. "Her sizes."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"How the hell did you get those?" she growled, thinking back to when "Michael"</span>
  
  <span class="s1">had helped her get a few outfits. "I bought the last batch on my own and did my own laundry! What the hell did you do, take a tape measure to me in my sleep? Did you go through my underwear-" She growled low in her throat as David's gloved hand clamped over her mouth, thankful that at least it wasn't the hand with the cigarette.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Probably best you don't know," he told her and she could just feel his damn smirk behind her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Marko nodded. "Right. Uh, speaking of girl crap..." he said carefully, looking pained. "That’s gonna be a new experience we probably need to figure out. Do you want me to-"</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Nah, one of us will just have a head between her legs at that time of the month." She nearly choked on her tongue and what was worse was that it came from Dwayne. Paul grinned in total admiration.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fuck, you always have them fooled that you're the sweet, sultry romantic. Dude, I so wanna be you when I grow up."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, this is enough dream, I’m so ready to wake up now,” she groaned. It was all so surreal.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"But definitely underwear," Dwayne added and she wondered if her cheeks could even get any redder.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Do I have to?" Marko sighed. "I never know what to look for-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Go pants a few</span>
  
  <span class="s1">people on the Boardwalk to get an idea," Paul suggested, deadpan.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I only did that once when I was dating that college student for a semester! I never know what to get for women-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Dude, at least take a peek at people in the age bracket instead of the grandmas!" Paul laughed and Marko cringed.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't remind me."</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Look, just go by the sizes and knock over a Victoria's secret, okay?" Dwayne told him, coming to his rescue.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Do you know how fucking uncomfortable some of that shit is?" she snapped, cringing at the thought of having to force her body into that excuse for underwear.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No worries, you'll never be in that stuff long," David retorted and caught her elbow when she tried to slam it into his stomach. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> Dwayne at least considered the request. "Definitely go for some of the cotton stuff, though-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"That's no fun!" Paul sighed, shaking his head.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Have you seen this month's catalogue? Some of it is very co-ed," the raven-haired vampire offered, mouth curving in a wistful leer.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul paused, eyes glittering as he glanced over at her, and she realized to her horror that he was probably picturing her naked. "Point. Alright, that's okay then."</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"That it? You don’t need any weird boutique shit?" Marko asked, shaking his head at the prospect of how he'd be spending his evening.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nah, that’ll be an excursion for another time,” Dwayne replied, and it took her a few beats to get over the thought of going into a sex shop with either vampire.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    <em>This has to be a game, an attempt to humiliate me, because there is no fucking way I’d survive that.</em>
  </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah, that should do it," Paul replied easily.</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space"> “If you think of anything just pick it up and we’ll cover it.”</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Cool, I'm out. Don't wear her out on her first night, okay?" he added, smirking knowingly at his packmates before heading for the mouth of the cave. "Good luck," he tossed over his shoulder to Jinny, and then he was gone. She shook her head, not quite wanting to know what he meant by that simple phrase.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"All right, then. Go on," David urged, pressing her forward.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Wait, what?” <em>Just like that?</em>Jinny suddenly realized that she was expected to go to the two staring figures in front of her. Well, Dwayne was staring, Paul was...she couldn't quite find the words to describe the way his eyes were lit up or the way he kept shifting his weight impatiently, as if his whole body was a bundle of exposed nerves agitated by the air around him. She almost expected him to be salivating. Jinny warily looked at them and she couldn't deny that they were hot. A lot of characters she had written, hell, a lot of "real" women, would have been jumping to take her place in this particular situation.</span>
  <span class="s1"><em>But they're killers. You've written them, you know what will happen to you! If not now, then eventually, when you finally begin to trust them. Give up your caution and you're dead! </em>her inner voice pointed out and she found herself shaking her head slowly. It was lunacy, it went against her morals, her sense of self, everything that had helped her through the day. Beyond that, she <em>knew </em>how to run, she <em>knew </em>how to plot to stay safe. She had no fucking clue what to do to go after what she wanted, let alone deal with whatever the hell this was. She wanted it, she couldn’t completely deny it, but she was completely out of her element. She shook her head slowly, warily, and tensed at David's sigh.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Come on, none of this playing hard to get shit," he said, tucking his cig between his lips so his hands could press against her back when she tried to step back into him. "Go on! I’m not gonna fucking carry you," he added.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">His words made her feel like an object, a toy, and she was neither. Jinny’s</span>
  <span class="s1">insides clench in both desire and fury. No one <em>owned </em>her, no matter what the crazy situation. "Fuck no!" she spat, glowering at the figures that were still waiting for her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"<em>What</em>did you say to me?" David asked, hand squeezing her shoulder painfully as he turned her chin. She swallowed hard as his blue eyes briefly tinged pink. It was much more difficult to be a bitch when she had to look at him when he was on the verge of getting angry.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"It's okay. She's just afraid. You’re throwing her in the deep end, bro," Dwayne intervened and she swore she saw his lip twitch.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"She still shouldn't speak like that to me," David retaliated, his voice soft yet as sharp as his teeth.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We'll take care of it, bud. Don't worry about it, she'll be calmed down in no time," Paul assured him, and there was something about his body language, that confident, borderline cocky roguishness that unnerved her. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He was not just a joker, not just some amusing character anymore. She was actually expected to...she didn't even want to think of what they were expecting. Like Dwayne said, she was being tossed in the deep end and she barely knew how to doggy paddle. It was one thing writing either of them doing the perverse, but to suddenly be on the receiving end of things, things they probably expected because they knew she wrote them... <em>Maybe Santa Carla is hell and this is my punishment.</em></span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I'm sure you will," David laughed, and she just wasn't sure how she felt about that laugh or the very male smirk on Dwayne's silent lips. "I'll set my watch to how long it takes to get her quiet and subdued," he added, and she just knew without looking at him that he was eating up her unease.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Who wants that? Give me riled up and a few good screams any day," Paul chuckled and her face burned. Her anxiety flared at what exactly he could mean. She had to have had five ulcers by now, she just knew it. "You don't have to be scared, baby, you're going to love every minute. We got started off on the wrong foot, so now’s the chance to do things right. C’mon," he purred as he slowly started to approach.  She couldn't stop shaking, mind blurring the possible meanderings of sex and violence in that comment.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That evil chuckle rippled from behind her again. "Look at her, speechless and heart beating like a frightened rabbit. You should go ahead while she's still stunned," David snickered, and she winced as his hands pushed against her shoulder blades again, harder this time.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Her mind was so dazed, her instincts so shredded that she didn't realize she was falling over her own feet, stumbling until her hands reached out to catch her. It wasn't until she felt the strain in her legs and slowly lowered herself to her knees that she looked up and saw that to her horror she had falling right into Paul's crotch.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh God,” she squeaked. Jinny quickly removed her hands. In her mental fog all Jinny could really do was look up at what was in front of her and stare, her cheeks pink in humiliation at what she had very nearly grabbed on her way down.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Damn, she catches on quick," David laughed, and even though she couldn't deny the attraction of what was inevitably tucked behind the impossibly tight pants, something in her broke to pieces at that comment, her ego and self-preservation flaring.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>It doesn't matter if it's attractive or not. It'll still hurt you, still humiliate you, </em>her mind told her as she fought the urge to lean in, as if Paul's groin exuded some weird gravitational pull. For his part he kept his mouth shut, waiting to see what she would do. She had no idea what was expected of her and she wasn't sure she wanted to know.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"All flustered, too," Dwayne added. There was a hint of feeling in his voice, but she couldn't be too certain. It also sounded like there was something in him that was disturbingly intrigued at what could be done with her all flustered. And besides, he was also the one who had been ready to do God knew what to her minutes ago when she was tied up and bleeding!</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Swallowing against the lump in her throat, Jinny leaned in, eyes wide as they looked up into Paul's face. He seemed to suck in a breath, if that were possible, muscles taut and waiting to see if she would freak out or take the challenge.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her hands were shaking as she placed them softly on his thighs and he swore incredulously under his breath. Even David muttered something about misjudging her as she leaned in, licked her lips...</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul tensed and yelped when she sunk her teeth into the flesh of his inner thigh. His reaction was more out of shock than actual pain, though there was enough of that, as well. "Holy <em>shit</em>!" he gasped. He immediately reaching for the tender area, feet tangling as she crawled between his legs, nearly knocking him over in the process. The other two were so startled at the sudden aggression that she was able to</span>
  
  <span class="s1">dart down the nearest tunnel and out of sight.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh shit, oh <em>shit,</em>" Paul muttered, nearly bent double, eyes clenched shut and body shaking.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You were the one who kept wanting her to bite you," David remarked, sighing heavily.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Huh? Oh that...no, no prob there, bro, I just think I came all over myself," the blond grunted, gasping as he struggled to recover. David looked torn between looking ill and fighting a laugh.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Go clean yourself up. I'm sure you chasing her with a wet patch would freak her out even more," Dwayne told his packmate as he came up beside him, clapping an arm gently on his shoulder. "I'll get her. There's nowhere she can really go, anyway, and what was she supposed to do when you kept yanking her chain?" he added, looking over at David pointedly.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The leader gave an easy shrug though his face was far from passive. "Fine, you do it. But I don't want to have to go through this every night. I don't care what you think is foreplay."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The dark-haired vampire grinned as he headed towards the same tunnel she had turned to for escape. "Don't worry, we'll take care of her," he assured David before he disappeared from view.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Paul was still muttering to himself as he slowly hobbled down another side path.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You're lucky she didn't bite anything valuable off," David remarked. On the one hand, he hated how things were tending to fall apart, but if they could secure the situation, then they'd have it made. Though at the moment that seemed like a pretty big if.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No kidding, that would just be awkward all the way around!" Paul agreed. David looked at him incredulously, restraining himself from asking how it could possibly be more awkward. "Well then my junk would be stuck in her mouth and I'd have to hobble after her to go get it. It would just be gross!" Paul went on as he headed off down the tunnel his packmate had darted down, but he had a different destination in mind. It would do him no good to lose control again that easily. Splitting up was to their advantage. While Dwayne went to retrieve her, he could easily prepare. A wicked smile tugged on his lips as he stood straighter, regaining his trademark strut even in the now-wet pants.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For his part, David managed to look only slightly nauseous before retreating to the shadows.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0028"><h2>28. Walk this Way</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny attempts one last bid for freedom and Dwayne reveals some of his special talents.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">Jinny cursed as soon as she made a start into the side tunnel.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Unlike the one shown in the movie, this one was big enough to allow walking, but the makeshift corridor was still a tight fit. The absence of all light made it impossible to see. God only knew what was waiting for her, be it some animal, sharp rocks, or a sudden drop off. Her steps fumbled as her foot knocked against...something, and she braced her hand against one wall to feel her way. She shuddered at the dampness that grew the further in she went. The whole thing was dark, claustrophobic, mysterious.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">"It's like taking a walking tour of my vagina," she muttered, her voice as dark as the tunnel as she carefully progressed. She had no plan and it was probably stupid to run without knowing where she was going, but she'd be damned if she'd let herself get caught again. Her hand paused as the rocks under her hand disappeared, revealing a side tunnel. Fumbling, she pawed across the passage to the other side to discover another, smaller expansion of the main tunnel. And the path seemed to go on ahead, as well. This was not in the plan! She had no idea where anything led. "Great, Jinny...smart move. Run on their home turf and with the odds three to one, no less," she muttered, pausing to consider her options.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The soft sound of crunching made her focus on her surroundings. It slowly dawned on her that the sound was feet pressing against whatever littered the floor of the tunnel. It came from behind her. Opposed to her slow stop-start pace, this walk was confident and casual, as if the owner was meandering down a city sidewalk on a nice afternoon. She went rigid and licked her lower lip as she stood there, listening as the crunch and slide of the feet grew closer...closer. Throwing her decision to fate she quickly ducked into the right-hand bend of the tunnel, breathing with relief as her foot hit solid ground.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You can't hide from me, Jinny," Dwayne's voice remarked. He wasn't yelling, wasn’t even calling out, but his words seemed to come from all directions at once. His voice was as all-encompassing as the dark. It also made it impossible to really tell where he was. She closed her eyes, panting, then realized that even that small sound was an enormous giveaway of her location. She held her breath and prayed for her lungs to get her through as she waited.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I can still hear your heartbeat, chica. I can still smell you, feel your mind." The footsteps paused at the intersection and then slowly continued straight. She frowned, perplexed, and drew in a wary, shallow breath.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"You don't have to be so afraid," he soothed and it was like he was standing right behind her. She could feel that silky voice in her ear, smell his scent of ocean, motor oil, and blood. She could almost feel the slightest brush of fingertips on the back of her neck.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You've been through a lot, haven't you?" he went on, the footsteps growing fainter, then suddenly returning and growing in volume. The click of his tongue as he tsked vibrated right through the center of her body. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>He’s coming back.</em>She had to move, but she couldn't stop listening to that voice. It covered her, clung to her, and held her back when she even thought about fleeing. In the very back of her mind she began to wonder what it would be like to be covered by him and not just his voice. <em>I wonder if he talks like that during…</em>She was too shy to even finish the thought.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Only one way to find out, isn't there?" he teased and she shuddered, horrified that he could know so easily what she was thinking. "I know you're frightened of what we are, but</span>
  
  <span class="s1">I don't think that's really what makes you so flighty," he added. It was the most she'd heard him say...ever. The footsteps paused again and she pictured him mere inches from her. Surely he <em>had</em>to know she was right there!</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"But you want it, too," he murmured before inhaling slowly, deeply. "In a bad way. You’ve been denying yourself way too long, girl. You don’t have to be good all the time. I can smell how wet you are," he added. Jinny gripped the wall and clenched her teeth. "What would you do if I caught you right now?" he asked. The silence after that question was louder than his words when he spoke. "I know what I'd do," he added, his voice lilting with suggestion. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>Holy shit, just shut up! </em>She could barely stand how his voice glided over her skin and held her in the dark. <em>Maybe that’s why he’s so quiet. It would be lethal to overuse a weapon like that.</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">
    
  </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He chuckled and she nearly leaned forward through the opening to get that noise just a little bit closer to her ear. "I'd have you against the wall so fast you'd barely realize I'd already have started undressing you...with my teeth," he added and the sudden picture those words created in her mind made her knees buckle. Her nails inadvertently scraped against the rock as she struggled to stay on her feet.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">T<span class="s1">hat smallest of noises was heard. She could feel Dwayne snap to attention and move...to the tunnel that was directly across from her. She frowned at how wrong he was, but knew not to look a gift horse in the mouth, especially when it had fangs and a sinfully gifted tongue. <em>No, no thoughts about his tongue. Bad! </em>Jinny crept back to the main passage before speeding back to where she’d originally fled from. She didn't care if she was heard, if the others were waiting. She just couldn't stay trapped that close to Dwayne while he was <em>talking</em>like that. She paused as she entered the main cavern once again, biting the inside of her cheek as she realized that it looked empty. That didn't mean much. It only meant there wasn't anyone in her line of sight. She'd have to sprint for the entrance.</span></p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>Just go! Run fast, run hard!</em>her mind screamed, though her body felt fuzzy. She always had sucked at doing anything useful when she was even remotely turned on. The crunch of footsteps grew behind her and she bolted, gritting her teeth against the tingling between her legs as the space between her and the stairs leading to the entrance lessened.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">She screamed and very nearly fell on her ass as David swooped down from the rafters, easily blocking her path. As much as she admired the perverse grace in the movement, his sudden presence was terrifying.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"So disobedient," he muttered, leaning easily against her path of escape, arms folded across his chest in a gesture that clearly meant "no access."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Let me go."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Why? So you can go back to the streets? Don't be stupid."</span>
  
  <span class="s1">She scowled, hated his simple logic. "You want this! You're just so used to running. This isn't a fucking story! You come up with stupid hysterical notions when they're the furthest thing from the truth. You're your own worst enemy. This proves I made the right decision," he added, his smugness intolerable.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Should I be paying you for that analysis?" she snarled, eyes searching franticly for any way around him. He leaned his weight from side to side, depending on which way she moved.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You couldn't afford me." Those piercing eyes of his sparkled dangerously and she swallowed hard. "You've ignored everything I've told you. If it was me, I'd take you over my knee and spank you until you either got a clue or passed out," he said and she shook her head at his bluntness, readied her tongue with a venomous reply.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I think that's something I'll end up doing," a voice purred from behind her and she did squeak then, did jump. She didn't even have to turn to know Dwayne was behind her. She could feel the slightest brush of him against her back. Jinny swallowed hard, determined to look unaffected even though that was pretty damn impossible. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her cheeks felt like they were smoldering as she looked up to meet Dwayne's gaze. His words may have contained a soft tease, but his face was absolutely serious. Jinny gulped and fought the urge to shrink back at that dark glitter in his eyes. It was something other than vampire mojo or a power trip to pass away an evening. <em>Is he actually interested? </em>She was oblivious on her best day, but there was no way she could work her mind around the situation. The corner of his mouth moved slightly, as if he was fighting a smile, before he looked to David. "I'll take it from here." The words were simple, but his voice left no reason for argument, nor was it disrespectful. If anything, his tone oozed pure male possessiveness. "There's something I want to show her, anyway."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">David laughed. "I'm sure between the two of you there's a hell of a lot to show her." A caustic reply began to simmer along her tongue and her muscles had just begun to tense in preparation for a struggle. Dwayne easily stepped forward, holding her gaze as his hand curled around hers. Jinny's eyes flicked down in surprise and she stared dumbly at where their hands were joined.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shh...let's go, Jinny," he said softly. When his hand tugged she was disconcerted to find she was following willingly like an eager-to-please puppy.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">The way he had purred her name had her reeling and she kept repeating it in her head, sure that at any second she'd wake up and have it be the only good memory she was left with. Dwayne kept walking and his hand gripped hers protectively, like a teacher determined to help along a shy student. He was warmer than she had anticipated and she was insanely aware when his grip would shift or a finger would twitch.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"This way," he urged when they came to the tunnel system she had recently fled from. She paused, slowly coming out of her haze as she regarded the path in front of her with suspicion. "It's all right, it's safe," he insisted. Jinny knew she shouldn't trust the vampire but curiosity, desire, and the plain want to be able to not have to be in control every second made her slowly creep forward.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"Good girl," he breathed as he stepped in behind her. She tried desperately to not show any reaction to that.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Nice that you made me go first," she grumbled. "How the hell am I to know you're not directing me to walk right off the edge of something?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You're going to have to learn to trust us," Dwayne said. "We have our reasons. Yeah, you've had a rough time, but it's over, if you let it be."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny made a face, continuing her sluggish pace as she tried to twist around to get a look at him. It was disconcerting, being alone with Dwayne in a dark, enclosed space, yet she couldn't deny the possibilities.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"Thank you, Dracu-Buddha," she replied, sighing when the terrain forced her to keep her eyes ahead of her. She had to step carefully and was constantly aware that he was right behind her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Look at it this way: I know you won't try to take off again or turn in somewhere. Then you'd be lost and unaware of what all's hidden around here. It's just common sense, Jin." She gave a low, put-upon sigh even though he was right. "Besides, this way I get a nice, uninterrupted view of that gorgeous ass," he purred, his tone sultry enough to make her want to crawl up the nearest wall. "Keep going straight," he urged as they reached the intersection she had hidden in earlier. Jinny eyed her previous path but kept going. "You can go that way, but you'd end up in Marko's room and I doubt he'll be in a great mood when he gets back from all those errands."</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Great," she muttered, relieved when the tunnel began to open up enough to allow Dwayne space to slip up beside her. A thought needled the writer part of her brain. "You have <em>rooms</em>?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Hanging is alright, but not exactly comfortable," Dwayne admitted. "David also began to wonder if it caused brain damage, but Paul was that way to begin with," he laughed and she started to join in until his arm snuck round her waist, hand pressing her forward.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">The gesture would have been almost comforting, save that his hand rested right on her ass. She froze, but he didn't move it away. "Go on," he urged, his voice almost a dare as he pushed her gently to the right. "Turn here."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I'll never find my way out of here," she groaned.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Tonight? No, but in time you'll learn. Just like learning your way in any city or building." </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny sighed her defeat and tried to keep her breathing under control as she became aware of every nerve ending on her ass as well as on the hand that seemed to be permanently attached. His palm was larger than she’d thought and she grit her teeth against the sudden barrage of images of other things those hands could do.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Vampire mojo, that's all it is," she snorted and realized too late that she’d said the words aloud.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne laughed, the wicked sound skimming into her ears as he guided her down yet another turn. "Not hardly. We don't have to do a damn thing to help your mind out there," he told her, his hand suddenly squeezing and she yelped in indignation. "Damn, girl, you have <em>got</em>to loosen up," he muttered and she presumed he was looking at her. She couldn't see shit in the tunnels.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Leave me alone," she huffed, though her protest was decidedly weak. Something abruptly pressed her back against the wall and she dazedly realized by the height and the smell that that something was Dwayne. Well, that and the fact that something quite familiar was jabbing her in the stomach gave the identity away. Jinny growled and tried to push the vampire off, but all that got her was her wrists caught and pinned over her head.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">"You won't admit it, but you <em>like</em>being intimidated," he whispered. Though she could feel no breath, she could feel the soft brush of his mouth on hers when he spoke. She was flustered and thankful that it was dark and she couldn't see him, even if he could see her. She wouldn't have to ever know if he was laughing.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Do not," she growled, more out of habit than because it was the truth. Jinny struggled to free herself but there was no winning that contest. A low rumble came from in front of her and she twitched as he bent a leg and pressed it between hers, rubbing at her slowly.<em>Oh that’s not fair!</em>The soft motion seemed to short circuit every smart part of her brain.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You don't like that, baby?" he breathed and the hand holding her arms raised up so she was forced to arch her back, her chest pressing intimately against him. "You don't wonder what it would be like to have me in you?" he asked. The insistent rubbing of his knee, the way his mouth just barely met hers every time he talked drove her out of her mind.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Ever since you woke up next to me that afternoon I keep imagining you sucking me. No shame in that," he teased. She barely understood that he was peeling her off the wall and guiding her into what seemed to be another cavern, but much smaller than the main room.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The room was lit dimly by the same manner as the main cavern. Jinny took in the dull whine from a portable stereo. She would later notice the few mis-matched pieces of furniture, the posters of rock bands and slogans slapped up on the walls, and other personal touches. At that specific moment the writer could've cared less about all of the little things that her mind would have normally gravitated to. She couldn't quite get her eyes to stop looking at the bed. It was presumably salvaged from the hotel, though it seemed to be in excellent condition. It wasn't opulently large, but looked comfortable enough. She was surprised that the bedding looked not only clean, but almost new, and oddly seductive. It wasn't even the deep green coverlet or pillows that really caught her attention. She was too startled by what was on them.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul languidly sprawled out on his back without a stitch of clothes on. If he was pissed about her attack on his thigh, he didn't show it. His eyelids drooped and there was a sly little smile on the corners of his lips. He looked like an especially mischievous cat, the kind that terrorized the household but still managed to be the favorite of its owner. She could only stare, eyes taking it all in: his expression, the slight arch of his back, the bare skin that drew her eyes down to the hand that was leisurely stroking his cock.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny gulped and unconsciously stepped back into Dwayne. That odd rumble reached her ears and by the vibration in his chest she realized that it was him <em>purring, </em>or it was as close a comparison as she could find. She tried to close her eyes but couldn't stop watching the tableau in front of her, even as Dwayne's arm curled round her waist so his hand rested low on her stomach. "That turn you on, girl?" he whispered. One of his fingers gently skimmed into her waistband. She squirmed and gasped, freezing as the noise made Paul raise his head.


His little smile grew into an all-out grin as soon as he saw her. He didn't stop touching himself; his tongue flickered slowly over his lower lip as his eyes devoured her. "Hey there Jinny honey," he growled, moving to sit up, head nodding to his lap as the smirk grew on his face. "Been thinking ‘bout you."</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>*cracks knuckles* welcome to the portion of the fic where I start to earn my tags and rating</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0029"><h2>29. Getting to Know You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dwayne and Paul finally get Jinny alone and work to get past her defenses. She finds she has a surprise or two up her sleeve, herself.</p><p>Or</p><p>The smut you came here for</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>yeaaaah, this is where we earn the adult rating. If graphic smut bothers you, you'll likely want to skim the next few bits until the plot picks up again. Otherwise, comments and kudos are lovely!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The bottom of Jinny’s stomach fell away and an intense warmth flooded through her body. She squirmed hard against Dwayne's fingers as they fluttered through her hair, his mouth ghosting against the shell of her ear. His other hand rubbed softly at her abdomen, gently pressing her back into him. "Feel that, girl?" he murmured. She managed a nod; there was no way she could ignore the hardness that was digging into her backside. "That's all for you, and so's that," Dwayne added as he nodded to the vampire that was sprawled out like a centerfold gone wrong.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> “Been waiting a long time for this,” Paul agreed. His hand had yet to stop its ministrations on his cock. It was like he was daring her not to look at him, to find any other focal point in the room but his dick.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She wanted to hide, to slip away while she still had the chance. <em>God, they're deluded! They must be hard up or it really is a trap-</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul sat up and patted the space on the bed beside him. "Why don't you come sit by me?" he offered, the tone of his voice filled with all sorts of sinful promises if she only obeyed his request. She wanted to, longed to, but couldn’t help but remember a story she’d read in Reader’s Digest: a warrior was climbing a mountain when he came across a rattle snake half-frozen in the snow. The animal had pleaded with the man, promising that it wouldn't do him any harm if he'd only carry him back down to warmer ground. The warrior had been compassionate and had done the snake the favor, only to be bitten once the serpent had regained feeling. When the warrior reminded him of his promise the snake only replied "But you knew what I was when you picked me up..."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She shook her head, her brain still waging war against her hormones. "Oh no...no, no you don't...I can't! I have to get out, let me go!" she argued, jerking against Dwayne's arms. He needed no real effort to keep her against him, though she thrashed with her whole body.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We're nervous," Dwayne explained, patiently letting her exert herself until she knew she wasn't going to get away.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah, I can tell," Paul agreed, leaning over his lap so his cock wasn't the full center of attention. "Calm down, Jin. I know you don't believe us yet, but we're not going to hurt you. You'll have a lot of fun tonight if you just let yourself. We get this whole thing has been a big mind fuck, but we want to start fresh. Babe, it's so obvious that you want this-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't flatter yourself," she snapped, the need to protect the dignity she had left rearing its head. "You'd love to think that-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh Jinny...we <em>know</em>Dwayne laughed softly, both of his arms wrapping full around her, cradling her against him. “D wasn’t lying when he said we’re not into forcing our partners. There’s no fun in that, we’re always going to be stronger than humans, so where’s the joy if you have to take something if you’re stronger, anyway? We’re not into that. We’d know if we were pushing it.” She growled but couldn't fight the calming vibe he gave off when she was that close to him. Damn but he was dangerous. "Hey," he whispered, tilting her head up with his chin. "You have to understand that being around a vampire is like being around a sentient lie detector. We can smell emotions, we know when your breathing and heart rate speed up, catch the vibe of your thoughts. You can't put much past us."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"That's why David went nuts when you first showed up," Paul pointed out. "He honestly couldn't tell what was plausible since nothing like you had ever come along before. And we're pretty good at the mind-reading thing, too, but that does have its limits," he admitted, grinning at her flush as she realized just what kinds of juicy tidbits Paul had probably been getting while she’d been shacking up with him posing as Michael.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"It's also why you'll never want for anyone else," Dwayne growled, as if the mere thought of her head being turned was too much for him to think about.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"We always know when we're walking a thin line, always know when you like things. I could feel your pulse quicken when I had you up against the wall, but it wasn’t fear. And every time you get in your head and start overthinking, that's when your anxiety rises and you start to come down."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She clenched her eyes shut, at a loss for how exposed she  felt. "I thought you'd come on the spot when he brought you in here," Paul added, grinning broadly. "And damn I could smell you get wet when I called you</span>
  
  <span class="s1">'Jinny honey' - yeah, just like that!" he added, his entire face brightening as she flushed. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"So I wasn't wrong when I said you liked to be intimidated, just a little bit overwhelmed, out of control," Dwayne purred, the rumble in his chest stilling her, slowly relaxing her. "You've just never had anyone call your bluff or not let you run off."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Before she could duck her head, he turned her to face him, fingertips on her cheeks. It felt like her heart was slamming up against her chest as she looked up into those dark eyes. "No mojo, baby girl. Only thing we'll do is use some influence to push those nerves back, because those aren’t doing you any favors." She shivered as his fingertips slowly skimmed down her face. "Now, I keep thinking about that afternoon when you kept coming onto me," he went on, his expression entertained but otherwise unreadable.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Mostly when he jacks off!" Paul commented, laughing when her expression turned to shock.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What? A beautiful woman is all over me when I can't do a damn thing about it - can you blame me?" he reasoned.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her eyes narrowed in thought. "So you knew what was going on?"</span>
</p><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Somewhat," he admitted. "To a certain point. Some specific things are a little fuzzy."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Like what?" she asked, taking the bait.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">He leaned over her with a smile that transformed her face and made her heart flip. </span>
  <span class="s1">"Those kisses, for one. All I remember is your soft mouth and how warm you were," he murmured as his hand buried itself in her hair, tugging her up towards him. "Help me remember?" he whispered when she was again to the point when his lips brushed hers when he spoke. "Or do I have to get you liquored up first?" he teased before his mouth pressed against hers. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny shivered, tentatively leaned her chin up, encouraged by his soft sucking on her lips. It wasn’t like she could run anyway, and maybe giving in, just for a moment, wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. She couldn’t ignore the pull that drew her to either one of them when they were in the same space, and Dwayne’s mouth on hers made her gasp, even if it was just the softest touch. Encouraged, he leaned back in, kissing gently, letting her get used to him.</span>
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Despite her wariness, Jinny found it all too easy to surrender to the heady sensations being so close to him caused. She gasped when his hands quickly cupped her ass and lifted her up off the ground and against him. “Not my fault you’re short,” he snickered. Her legs had no choice but to wrap round his waist and she struggled to hang onto him when his tongue finally slid into her mouth.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>Why does this feel so right? This shouldn’t feel so good! </em>She’d never felt like this with any of the people she’d dated in her old life, had never been willing to throw caution to the wind so fast. She moaned, drunk on the wet heat of his mouth, the taste of him. She whined in disappointment when he set her on the bed before pulling away.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't worry about him," Paul insisted, his hand trailing over her shoulder. "How ‘bout some validation for the one who hasn't got to kiss you as himself yet!" Jinny blushed, but Paul wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. her breath was literally knocked out of her when his mouth sealed over hers, his large hands cupping her cheeks and back of her head. For some reason she had always had it in the back of her mind that Paul would be more enthusiastic than skilled, but that theory was immediately laid to ruin. He was fervent, but there was no mistaking his experience as his tongue tangled with hers, slowly pressing deeper...deeper until something inside her flicked on and heat simmered under her skin. When he finally released her she was seeing spots and had to pause to catch her breath.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shit, sorry, you're addictive. I've been holding that in for too long," he admitted, his hand rubbing softly over her back. She was more concerned about filling her lungs and stopping the room from spinning. When Jinny could concentrate again her eyes focused on the figure in front of her. While she had been engaged in tonsil hockey, Dwayne had been keeping busy and was down to just his pants, his fingers just starting to undo his belt. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh God," she squeaked, turning her head to the side and promptly fixing her gaze directly on Paul's lap. That drove home all that was about to happen, the potential of the price she would end up paying as she remembered all of the gruesome details of the exploits she had written, plus all the tidbits she’d been privy to since arriving in Santa Carla. She was many things, but down to fuck with wild abandon like Brandi, she was not, and look what had happened to her, anyway. "Fuck, no, I can’t do this," she panicked before attempting to jump off the bed. Paul caught her round the waist and she grimaced at the way her damp clothes shifted on her skin.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shh...hey, it's okay!" he reassured, the golden hair that framed his face emphasized his frown as he glanced to Dwayne. “It’s okay,” he repeated, fingers guiding her chin up for a sweet kiss.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">She pulled away and shook her head. </span>
  <span class="s1">"No...no I can't," she protested, but also felt that the worst thing she could do would be to try to leave. She felt compelled to press her face against Paul’s shoulder, seeking comfort there. <em>Why can’t I get thing together? </em>For a moment all she could think of were the dates that had fizzled out because she just wasn’t attracted to them, or they insisted on moving creepily fast in weird directions. <em>Maybe they’re right and I’m just a frigid bitch. I even want to, but how the hell can I deal with this? </em>If only she could deal with those two without the genitalia, she was sure she'd be fine. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne knelt beside the bed cautiously, gently seeking her chin with his fingers. She tried to back away, but it was as if the fears that swelled in her mind were slowly being stroked, hushed, and smothered by something...else.</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space"> They didn’t fully vanish, but they were simmering in the background instead of boiling over.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"That's better," he murmured directed her gaze up to his. The nerves were still there, that core suspicion remained, but both were far more manageable.</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space"> He studied her silently and she swallowed hard, sure at any moment he’d decide it just wasn’t worth the effort.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul's hand gently rubbed the back of her neck, his fingers easily releasing the knots of tension that lay just under her skin. "Easy. Babe, we get it. You haven’t seen us at our best and it must seem daunting, but we'll take it slow. Most women haven't had two lovers at once, you'll be fine!” He frowned at the sudden flush of red over her skin. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">Ji</span>
  <span class="s1">nny bit her lip as Dwayne grabbed the hand that threatened to hide her face, his free fingers whispering up her cheek. The only thing she could focus on was her own breathing and his eyes. There was a slight, knowing smile on his face before dropped her gaze.</span>
  <span class="s1">"Jinny," he started carefully, "have you ever..." He trailed off when her embarrassment provided the answer.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Holy shit!" Paul breathed and she tensed, waiting for the barrage of cat calls and laughter sure to follow. "Dude, we really did hit the jackpot!" he crowed instead.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She rolled her eyes and attempted to put space between her and the other two. <em>And now the other shoe drops. </em>"Great." She couldn't hide her sarcasm.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul must have been part vampire and part octopus because he easily had her back in his arms. "No, I mean...shit...you've never...and you've written…I mean some of that was fucking hot! How is that even possible?!" he finally finished.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The look she shot him was mixed</span>
  
  <span class="s1">pity and derision. "I'm a virgin, I'm not stupid. Besides, I had to have something to do while I was waiting for my vibrator to recharge," she shot back, smirking slightly as his eyes widened.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You've just given him fantasy material for months," Dwayne sighed.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Forget that, I'd rather have the real thing!" the blond insisted, dragging her back up against him. She squeaked as his arms held her against his hip. "No worries, we'll go slow," he promised in a low voice and Jinny struggled to see straight as his hand rubbed up and down her side and his lips ghosted over her ear.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Every single moment will be unforgettable," Dwayne added. "You won't believe how good you're going to feel tonight."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Sure, in comparison to the fact that I'll probably be dead in the morning!" she retorted, fighting the urge to crawl up Paul's thigh just to get away from his damn fingers! He found her sensitive spots all too easily. His mouth nuzzled against the line of her neck and she gasped.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">To her dismay the dark-haired vampire grinned. "Such a fixation with death. That can't be healthy. I think we can make you forget about that." She was about to shoot back some comment about him thinking he was Dr. Feelgood when he leaned in, mouth pressing up against hers. He wasn't exactly kissing, but rather flicking his tongue over her mouth, between her lips, teeth worrying her lower lip before he began to suck it. She tried to hold out, to not respond, but his hands locked onto her thighs, pinning them against the bed as they kneaded the skin so his fingertips just crept up below her torn skirt.</span>
  
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She allowed herself a shiver and started to raise her hands to push him off when Paul's palms slid down her arms and covered her palms so they were pressed to the bed, his fingers draped over and between her own. Jinny whimpered when his mouth nipped down the shell of her ear to the lobe, which he gently ground between his teeth. She almost felt humiliated when Paul's mouth attacked the spot right under her ear, making her arch into Dwayne with a happy shudder. She distantly decided that if they kept it up she'd just allow her ego to be crushed and deal with it later.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her mouth was softly released and Dwayne pulled back to regard her with eyes that glittered admiration and something that bordered on the possessive. "Holy shit, you were <em>loving </em>that," he breathed, grinning when she struggled to press her thighs together. "You don't want me to see how wet you are?" he teased. His large palms slid up her legs and slid them apart another inch. Paul groaned in her ear and she shivered.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Please," she whispered before quickly averting her eyes when she realized how breathless she sounded. "N-no-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Dude, that <em>has</em>to be a first: a woman telling you to take your hands off her!" Paul snickered.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"How about I let go of your leg," Dwayne murmured and slowly released her right thigh. She was vaguely aware of Paul lifting her hand and passing it forward. "If you give me your hand," Dwayne continued. It was an odd request, but it was innocent enough. He smiled when her hand slid into his before gently pressing his mouth into the center of her palm. His tongue swirled there before gliding up one finger. She gasped at the soft, wet heat, startled at the sensations that erupted at such a simple action.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"See? Not that bad," Paul soothed, his mouth pressed up against her ear, his palm now splayed against her stomach. She nodded, but stiffened as Dwayne lowered her hand, her fingertips flitting down his bare chest. His fashion choices had always made her blush on a good day, and now watching her fingers skim down his exposed skin was almost too much to bear, never mind they were making a beeline for-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What are you doing?" she breathed, but it was a weak protest and she knew it.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Come on, Jinny, he'll be hurting otherwise and it sure as hell wasn't me that got him that hard," Paul murmured.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">"I...I...." She watched her own hand, her mind detached as her fingers fumble with the front of his pants. Her hand shook as she tugged on the zipper. His hand was cupping hers, the whisk of the zipper ringing in her ears long after she had started to expose him.</span>Longing flooded her, but embarrassment won out. <span class="s1">"I can't!"</span></p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Please, Jin. I want to feel myself in your hand," Dwayne urged. She looked up, startled, then slowly realized that she was holding something other than Dwayne's palm. Her eyes cautiously trailed down and she swallowed hard as she looked at him.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Wow, you really don't pad," she managed, cheeks burning after the words were out of her mouth.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul laughed softly. "See bro, you have nothing to worry about! I knew you weren't packing something small!" Dwayne's indignant glare was enough to get her laughing, albeit weakly.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What the hell are you talking about?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"There's been some nasty rumors going round the Boardwalk," Paul teased in a conspiratorial tone, his hand circling lazily over her back. "How he's lacking, how I can't last, how we need all sorts of weird accommodations to get over the edge."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her cheeks darkened as her mind caught up with her hormones. "I was angry," she mumbled, as if that were any decent excuse.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You could've said worse," Dwayne assured her, though he stood and backed away. She was beginning to wonder if the interlude wasn't some plot for revenge after all. Dwayne just smiled and kicked off his shoes and pants. "It was part of what intrigued us, actually."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"And you didn't have the facts so of course your imagination went wild!" Paul added. Jinny jumped when his hand brushed over the skin of her back, his hand now <em>under </em>the fabric of her shirt. "So we'll just have to make sure you know what you're talking about," he drawled, voice low and raspy. Jinny hissed through her teeth when his fangs lightly skimmed down the back of her neck. It should have scared her, but God it felt so good. “We’re so lucky you’re ours, Jin,” he breathed, and she frowned. Something about that didn’t quite make sense, but the things they were making her feel had shorted out her brain.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her eyes once again locked onto the area between Dwayne's legs and she shook her head. "There's no way...no way that'll fit in any opening I have." </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She had to give Dwayne credit, he was trying his damnedest not to grin, though the slight tick in his cheek and sparkle in his eyes gave him away. "Sure it will. We'll have you nice and loose before that," he assured her, his cock swaying as he approached her again.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"And you'll sure be loose after tonight," Paul chuckled. Usually she'd laugh at the dirty humor. Hell, usually she <em>thought up</em>the dirty humor, but this was different. This was <em>her</em>in the situation, not some character on a page.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Now you've given me a time with that knee of yours," Dwayne rumbled as he leaned over her. She instinctively leaned back from his glittering eyes, the seductive line of his mouth, the idle movement of his hair, but Paul held her fast, not allowing her room for escape. "I think you need to make it up to me," he continued, hips pressing forward so there was no doubt as to what he wanted.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">He didn’t press the issue, and a good part of her wanted to jump him and blow his mind, prove she could make him happy. The reality of the situation was too hard to ignore, though. </span>
  <span class="s1">She licked her lips out of habit, unable to find a good place for her gaze. "I've never-"</span>
</p><p class="p4"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We know, honey, but that's fine. It's how you learn," Paul urged, gently nudging her forward. Her hand reached out slowly and she concentrated to keep the movement smooth. The last thing she needed was shaking fingers at a moment like that. Her hand cupped around him and she paused like that for a few moments before her fingers grew discontent and moved to explore the length of his shaft. Dwayne tensed and she immediately started to retract her hand.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't even think of stopping," he warned, voice tight. Jinny kept her eyes on her own hand as she tentatively curled her fingers round him and began to stroke him with a slow, easy motion. His head tilted back slightly, mouth open just a little, and he shivered when she ran a single digit over his tip. Paul's chuckle nearly made her vault off the bed and she accidentally squeezed what she was holding.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh <em>fuck</em>!" Dwayne groaned and she could only stare in disbelief as he shuddered.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"See how much he likes it?" Paul whispered right into her ear before nuzzling up the side of her neck with his cheek. His stubble on her skin made her squirm. "He wants you, Jin, it’s gonna be okay. Look how much he’s into what your hot little hand can do. He can barely form two words. Use your mouth on him, babe, see what he does then."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The words in her ear carried no current of influence, just as they carried no hint of exhalation, but it was like some kind of dare from her adolescence that she knew she would never back down from. Jinny leaned in, Dwayne's erection eagerly brushing her lips as she got close. The situation was unreal and made her want to see what would happen next, just as if she was reading a particularly potent story. Deep down she was terrified she'd be the opposite of every romantic book heroine and get things completely, utterly wrong. <em>You can do this. You can. </em>She opened her mouth and flicked her tongue over him, wetting his length.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">For coming off like one of the crown princes of runaways, he was clean and she found that the taste of his skin there wasn't unpleasant like she had feared. His hips shifted and there came a weird, strangled gurgle from above her. Paul broke out laughing, his hand all the while dutifully working over her back. "You're killing him! Most just get right to it," he admitted, his own voice lower, hoarser despite his amusement.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">
    <em>Shit. You can’t even do something basic right. </em>
  </span>
  <span class="s1">She blinked and started to pull away, flushing. "Oh, sorry-"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No! No, don't stop what you're doing," Dwayne hissed, impatiently stepping forward to close the space between them. Her eyes flicked up and she was startled at his harsh tone until she saw the ragged desire on his face. It was a far cry from how damn composed he usually was. Somewhere a lightbulb clicked on for her and though it was still new, still intimidating, she found herself wanting to drive him over the edge more than anything. Her hand curled against his hip and the contrast of her pale skin on his made her face color even more. It seemed to drive home exactly what she was doing, and with whom. This was her show, her call. While she wasn't anywhere near expert level she refused to disappoint.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne actually squirmed when she leaned in and ran the skin of her cheek over his cock, taunting him further with soft breaths and flicks of her tongue as her fingers explored. Even the ends of the few strands of her hair that fell against him seemed to make him move into her more.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh my God," Paul rasped from behind her. "You should see yourself..."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Like a curious kitten," Dwayne managed, his voice low and rough, as if he was struggling to not move and disturb the moment. Her hand worked under him again, inadvertently brushing against his balls, making him shudder. Deeming herself ready, Jinny glanced up from under her lashes before slowly sucking his tip into her mouth, her fingers rubbing over their new discovery. She gasped as one of Dwayne's hands tangled in her hair, pressing himself further in.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Easy. She won't be able to get all of you first time," Paul warned.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"That's fine. Don't care. Oh <em>fuck</em>," he managed as Jinny's mouth slowly slid over what she could handle, tongue rubbing as she sucked at him, careful to keep her teeth cushioned by her lips, her fingers working the rest. She moved like that for a while, setting a rhythm, getting used to him. He seemed to be liking it, yet he didn't appear to be near a climax. Either it was going to take forever or she just wasn't getting it right.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A wet tongue suddenly pressed under her ear, sucking wetly, but it was the fingers that slid into a cup of her bra that made her jump forward, gasping. She fought the sudden urge to panic when she realized that she had inadvertently taken Dwayne into her throat, past her gag reflex. Though as much as it startled her, the vampires seemed to be even more shocked.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh shit! I'm so sorry, shit! I was just trying to relax you!" Paul stammered before looking up at his friend, frowning at the pained look on Dwayne's face. "Dude, what the hell is wrong with you?" he asked, slowly grinning in realization. "Holy shit, he's done for!" he laughed, then finally took notice of Jinny's panicked expression. "Just swallow, it'll be alright,” he urged, beaming when she obeyed, sending Dwayne into another cursing fit, his fingers tightening in her hair. "Pull out a little, let her breathe," the blond reminded, hand low on her back. Dwayne obliged and she took a few shallow breaths, thankful that her lungs could work without the use of her brain. She was ready for it when he sunk back into place and swallowed tightly around him.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh, shit. Close," Dwayne managed, his eyes open but unseeing before they clenched shut as Jinny's hand sought out his balls once more. She struggled to hold on as his entire body shook and he spilled into mouth. She pressed up against him, refusing to back down and do less than swallow, though it turned into more of a survival mission to finish without choking.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He pulled out quickly and she noted with shock and bemusement that his legs were actually unsteady as he sunk onto the bed. For her part, Jinny could only breathe and marvel at what had just happened as she wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You okay? Dwayne?" Paul asked, glancing down at his friend.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Give me a few," came the mumbled reply. Paul's grin reached down to his fangs as he leaned his head back and laughed.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fuck, Jin, think you <em>did</em>kill him!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shut up. I was just surprised."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She rolled her eyes at the exchange, filled with an odd pride. It was a little concerning that she’d jumped straight into, well, <em>that,</em>but it didn’t feel like there was any influence or pressure involved. She’d wanted to, though it was likely she’d just let herself get caught up in the moment. She <em>had</em>enjoyed it, though she was beginning to have reservations as she glanced to the cock that had yet to be attended to. "I don't know if I can repeat that tonight," she admitted hoarsely, the shyness gripping her again.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul looked up quickly, the grin gone from his face. She winced, waited for him to lose it. "Hey, you're not here to just...I mean, you honestly didn't even have to blow him. We weren't going to make you! Shit, this wasn’t how I thought this was gonna go."</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">She shrugged, confused at that last bit and his overall concern. “It’s fine.” </span>
  <span class="s1">And it was, yet she couldn't help thinking that it wasn't fair to get off one and not the other. That snide little logical part had its own two cents. <em>You know once they recover you'll be done for. You're insane if you're waiting for them to give back. Blow his mind and run for your life in the afterglow!</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Without really thinking about it ,her fingers brushed down Paul's length, drawing a low moan from him. She tried to keep her mind blank, to focus only on what was in front of her and her immediate emotions as she stroked him. It wasn't like it was torture to play with him, anyway. There was something addictive about his encouragement, his rumble of pleasure. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When she slowly skimmed a nail around his tip he groaned and fell back onto the bed, dirty-blond hair skimming nicely against the deep green of the covers. It was like tending to a rock star in a dirty fantasy, and she couldn’t help but smirk at the thought. "Fuck, I give up, have your way with me!" he panted and she chuckled at his dramatics. Her mouth drifted low but she veered off to his thigh, tongue swirling across the area</span>
  <span class="s1">she'd sunk her teeth into earlier. He whined, hand stroking through her hair, leg twitching.  The wound was nearly healed. All that was left was a pale pink mark and even that was quickly fading.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh shit," he gasped, his body tensing as her fingers moved along him, her mouth sucking hard at his leg. Dwayne leaned up on an elbow, watching with interest as he recovered. Jinny moved to find a workable position, finally settling on straddling Paul's lower legs, her fingers gently, dutifully wandering all over him, stopping to rub wherever he shivered. She found it odd that the concept of exploration was so new to them. Surely any woman would want to take their time to see what exactly made them tick, what could drive them over the edge. And if not, then the women of Santa Carla were dumber than she thought. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She couldn't deny that he was beautiful, especially splayed out underneath her the way he was. She purposefully avoided his cock with her tongue, skimming it instead over each leg, into the crease of each thigh, and even his waist and navel. Paul was struggling to hold still, muttering tightly under his breath, his hands questing for some safe place to rest. Each pleased noise he made hit some deep spot inside her and felt way more satisfying than they probably should have.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Problems?" Dwayne asked and she could hear the smirk in his voice without looking over at him.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shut up!" Paul snapped back, the last word strangled when she pulled away slightly, her cleavage skimming his leg through the thin material of the shirt. Jinny raised her eyes up over his body, blushing at how his head was lifted, a decidedly dazed expression on his face. Her eyes slowly went back down to what her hands cradled and she swallowed hard.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He wasn't as imposing, but it was still obvious that he could do a damage with what genetics had given him. Her self-preservation kicked in and she bent, mouth rubbing his cock softly, her cheek and nose brushing against him every so often. His body twisted under her, his face tightening with a groan. <em>He’s either easy to please or a damn good actor.</em>She tried to suppress the observation and leaned over him so her breasts cuddled up against his thighs.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No acting here, babe," Paul grunted through clenched teeth, like he was straining to hold himself back. "Let me up!" he gasped. Jinny squeaked and looked around as Dwayne's arms clasped round her waist, tugging her to the side and off of his friend's legs.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Wait, don't you want to finish?!" she blurted, hoping her voice sounded anywhere near tempting.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul looked up at her as if he couldn't believe she'd just asked such a question. "Fuck yes, and I plan on it!" he told her, carefully sitting up. "But you need to know that it's you that pleases me, us," he corrected, shaking his head at the disbelief on her face. "'Sides, I plan on coming hard and long," he growled, leaning over her wide-eyed face. His eyes were intense and his expression deadly serious, though his lips curled at the edges with a hint of dirty humor. "But when I do this first time, it's going to be because I'm deep in you, driving you crazy." </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0030"><h2>30. Night Moves</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The evening continues</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>More smut. No excuses. I figure it's fitting for making it through that much plot so far. Obviously in the real world enthusiastic consent and discussion is needed and obviously here the mating bond gets around some of that for time's sake. </p><p>Also, I think the technical term for this would be....a lot, so if this isn’t your thing, no worries, the plot will eventually pick up again. Eventually. Yeah, I know, I wonder about me, too.  </p><p>Comments and kudos appreciated!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"At any rate you could never divert our attention from you long enough to get away." Dwayne's voice was sultry as it skimmed over Jinny's ear and she squirmed against his python grip, giving into her apprehension and sarcasm to keep from going out of her head.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fine, whatever. I'll give you your fifteen minutes a piece," she snapped, indignation rising as they actually started laughing.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh babe, you need an education!" Paul managed when he caught his breath.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Hey, not her fault. She's used to regular guys and distorted stories, give her some credit," Dwayne pointed out, not irritated in the least when she smacked the hand away that had been creeping towards her chest.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't make excuses for me!" she growled. "Not like I have much to compare it to. Besides, from what I've seen and heard it isn't too far from the truth." Her half-hearted wriggling gained new defiance at the renewed chuckles.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We get things over and done with when we're hunting," Paul explained, his amusement at her face lighting his eyes and smarmy grin. "But when we want to? Hours," he purred before pressing a kiss to the tip of her nose.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The horny virgin in her perked up. Hell, it was cheering, but just the implication of that word was also terrifying. <em>There’s no way you can keep their interest for that long!</em></span>
  <span class="s1">"H-hours?" She had barely survived what she had been through so far.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Mhm. All part of why vampires are the ideal lover," Paul added and looked over her shoulder at Dwayne's groan.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't get him started. He'll go on forever about his theory that a vampire invented cunnilingus."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Dude, it makes sense!" Paul protested and had her mind not been whirling, she would have found it all hilarious.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah, but do you really want to talk all damn night?" Dwayne asked, raising his eyebrow pointedly. "Because I know there are things I'd much rather be doing."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Point," Paul admitted, his eyes leisurely mapping her out. "And someone's way over-dressed." </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">She quickly clamped her arms over her chest </span>
  <span class="s1">"I'm fine, thanks," she quickly replied, her eyes trying to find anything fascinating in the thread count of the bedspread.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What's wrong? It's not like we didn't see you when you were sick," Paul reasoned. "Now we just have the time to take a look," he teased and Jinny snorted, pointedly looking away.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Exactly."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">To her quiet delight and irritation Dwayne moved his hands to her shoulders, massaging deeply, firmly. "You can't tell me you're comfortable in that," he murmured, his lips too close to her ear.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I'm fine!" she insisted, biting her lip as Paul ran a finger over the top of one foot.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You mean you're fine in those shoes after running so much?" he asked, unable to hide his skepticism.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">She hated to admit it, but once he brought it up she realized her feet <em>were</em>cramped and aching. The heels weren't tall but they weren't made for marathons, either. "C'mon, think how nice it'll feel to have those off," he urged. She tried not to think of her feet, but once she was aware of the</span>
  
  <span class="s1">exhaustion in her ankles, the tightness in her toes, and the burn in her arches, she just think of anything else.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fine," she sighed, still trying to remove herself from Dwayne's hands. It wasn’t that she exactly wanted to escape them, but the possibility of disappointment and embarrassment was too great. Besides, running was what she knew, what she was good at, though she could likely flee in bare feet as easily as she could in those shoes. Paul carefully worked open the strap of each shoe, fingers gently tugging them off her feet before he unceremoniously chucked them over his shoulder and across the room.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Hey!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You hated those, anyway," he pointed out with a smirk, his palms cupping one foot, fingers gliding over the arch. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Oh,” she sighed, shivery. She was done for. Her body melted back into Dwayne as a lazy purr rippled out of her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">"I think you just hit her Achilles heel, literally," he chuckled, fingers circling deep into the base of her neck.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Less talking more rubbing," she muttered, smacking the covert hand that made it too close to her cleavage. "And no tickling!!" she squealed, legs spasming when Paul dragged a finger lightly up the bottom of one foot.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Mmm, you wiggle so nice, girl. Wonder where else baby's ticklish?" he growled. One of his hands slid up to her ankle before lingering over her calf. His calloused fingers hit her skin just right and she struggled to think straight.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You tickle, I bite," she warned, slowly succumbing to the warmth that was puddling in her limbs.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't tempt us," Dwayne replied and she shuddered as his tongue traced the shell of her ear again. "We bite back. You'd find yourself tied up and nibbled on."</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Fuck, that’s definitely something for later. Just think what a pretty sight our girl would be, all spread out, tied up, and needy for our mouths, Paul agreed.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She groaned, her hips arching at both the words and a sudden, delicious warmth over her toes. It took her a few good moments to realize it was Paul's tongue.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh, don't!" she warned, her voice weak as his fingers drummed higher up her leg.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Why not? You like it," he reasoned, ghosting his</span>
  
  <span class="s1">mouth over the top of her foot.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"'Cause they're feet!" she managed, as if it wasn't obvious. Her feet were a hot spot she hid from everyone – one wrong move and he’d easily have her falling over the edge, and she absolutely didn’t need either of them knowing that.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Please, you're clean. It's not like it'll kill me," he retorted. "I can stop if you want," he sighed when she glared.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Good, I - wait!" she cried, squirming as he leaned up to suck at the skin of her knee, his hands skimming up her thighs. She struggled to sit up and when she dropped her arms to help aid the rest of her body Dwayne's hands slid under her arms, plucking at the hem of her shirt.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Look how this catches on everything," he pointed out and she made a face at the snagged material. "It's nice but you can't move in something like this," he added. As she bucked in protest, the truth of his words became painfully evident. The damp fabric rode up on her stomach, twisting and constricting on her. She didn't have to say a thing. Dwayne was already tugging it over her head before he flung it in</span>
  
  <span class="s1">the general direction of the shoes. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She watched as a large, tan hand slid down her stomach, nearly covering her middle when he splayed his fingers, and she fought for breath as Paul's fingertips slid under the bunched material of her skirt, kneading her inner thigh.</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space">  <em>No touch should feel this good. It has to be a trick!</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny gasped and her nails dug into Dwayne's leg when he lightly bit her shoulder. He didn't use his fangs, but it was still enough to shock her into paying attention. <em>This is it, you're done for you idiot, and all you got out of it was some half-assed petting!</em>her brain chided.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No negative thinking, " he warned. "Though if you'd prefer a spanking..."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"N-no!" she squeaked, and shrieked as Paul leaned up and dipped his tongue into her navel. She bucked hard when his fingers slid across her waist, then moved directly under it so he hit one of her most sensitive spots. Don't, stop!" she begged, wriggling to escape his maddening touch. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Don't stop?" Paul teased, grinning as he sped the motion of his fingertips. "Fuck, you really are ticklish!" he breathed, the ends of his blond hair trailing over the waist of the stupid skirt. The wispy hairs trailed up onto the skin that had been wet by his tongue, tortuously soft. She moved hard against the tantilizing sensations that flared from the contact, nearly falling over the edge.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Stoppit!" she shouted, whimpering when Dwayne's nails found that horrible spot below her waist and worked over it repeatedly. It was awful – both too much and not nearly enough. She whined when Paul began to tongue her navel again.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Let me take the skirt off and I'll stop," he murmured between swirls of that damn gifted tongue.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No!" she growled, though she wanted nothing more than to have him rip the damn thing off her. The remaining pieces tangled up against her hips the more she wriggled, only urging the blond’s hands higher.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"This is where pride and fear and embarrassment need to shut up," Dwayne pointed out, his long fingers just barely dipping into her waistband. "It'd be a shame for you to come without a single touch to that gorgeous pussy," he murmured, the fingers of his free hand quickly dipping into her bra. She froze in his strong grip, blinking at his blunt words. "And we may have been good when you were sick, but that doesn't mean we didn't sneak a peek."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She would have been tense at such a confession, but at the moment she could barely see straight. "Damn right we looked," Paul agreed between laps of his tongue. "I don’t know where you get this idea that we’re playing you.” Paul held up a hand before she could open her mouth. “I mean I know, but fuck, Jin, don’t you get how much both of us have been waiting for this? I know I'd be disappointed if you wore out without me getting a finger between those soft little lips of yours," Paul added with a sly smile, his hands kneading her hips. "Or without one of us getting to sink his tongue into that tight pussy. Don't you want to know what it's like to have your clit sucked by someone who knows what they’re doing, to have something in you besides your own fingers or some hunk of plastic?" he reasoned. Dwayne's hand moved from the skin of her waist and she was surprised she didn't explode when Paul rubbed his cheek there with a low noise. She gasped and he raised his eyes to look at her, the edges just barely tinged yellow as he nuzzled her skin, almost like he was marking her for his own.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Alright, alright! Take it off, just...stop <em>that</em>!" she howled, near the point of tears when their hands pulled away.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You always did have a great sense of logic, Paul," Dwayne snickered as he slid them both up to the headboard. "Here, lay back," he urged, pulling her back until she was draped back against him. Paul was already tugging the skirt past her knees. Dwayne's fingers turned her head and his mouth crushed down on hers, leaving her no choice but to breathlessly try to keep up. Her hands buried themselves in the dark softness of his hair, her body clumsily moving so he could get a hand around her back to unclasp her bra. Her muscles tightened when he began to pull the fabric away, her lips withdrawing as her eyes focused on a spot above his head.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Hey. One, I'm down here," he whispered and leaned in for a quick, light smack to her lips, his fingers clasping her chin and tugging it so she looked him in the eyes. "Two, this isn't a doctor exam. Relax," he breathed. Her mind recognized the subtle command and her body responded. And her nerves nearly shattered at the feel of rough hands smoothing all over her pelvis.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"My God, Jin, you have a fantastic body hidden away," Paul groaned, fingertips skimming up the crease of each thigh. “I can’t believe I had this down the hall from me for weeks and I never got to do this. So not fair.” She nearly screeched and rolled over. "Ticklish there, honey?" he asked innocently, his fingers merciless in comparison.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> She squeezed her legs together and gasped when Paul raised an eyebrow, ducked his head, and delivered a sharp nip to each thigh. "I love a good chase, but I don't want you doing that again," he told her. "Not when we're alone and you want it." Long fingers stroked her inside thighs, so very close to their destination. She winced when his fingers brushed against where ‘Michael’ had knicked her with the switchblade and he tsked. “Poor thing. Don’t worry, we can heal those. We’ll kiss you all better.”Her stomach tightened as he leaned in. His face softened and he gave her a toothy grin and a sly wink. Her nipples tightened at the cool air and it suddenly occurred to her that her bra was gone.</span>
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Even though he was looking over her shoulder she could feel Dwayne’s eyes on her bare breasts. Just the knowledge that both of them were staring at her so intensely made her nipples grow tighter. In the few heartbeats of silence, she wondered if they were simply taking her in or comparing her to every bit of silicone they had been with in their experience.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fuck..." Dwayne's voice breathed in her ear as his large palms cupped under each breast, his long tan fingers rubbing her soft pink nipples between them. "Baby, you're gorgeous," he growled, sounding truly pleased. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“So hot,” Paul breathed, tongue darting out over his lip as he watched his friends hands work her tits. “And all ours.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She started to correct him, filled with her own mental picture of herself, but her brain short-circuited, driven to numbness by the competitive attentions of the two vampires.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Dwayne's hands squeezed her breasts as he began to slowly, steadily run his mouth up and down the line of her neck, tongue swirling and full mouth sucking at different spots. "Oh God," she groaned, startled at how easily she leaned her head back for more. It was something she had never thought about wanting, but it felt so good. Not to be outdone, Paul ran his fingers over the crease of her thighs, his mouth pressing hot kisses over the fabric of her panties. Words became impossible and she could only arch into them and mew softly at the intense ministrations.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You <em>are </em> a sweet little kitty cat, aren't you," Dwayne chuckled. His fingers plucked the elastic of her waistband, passing it to Paul's waiting hands. "Watch him," he growled in her ear when she closed her eyes, willing herself to burn into cinders so she wouldn't have to see what would come next. Paul's fingers steadily tugged the damp material down her legs, his eyes darkening as the cloth slid away.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shit, you are <em>drenched</em> girl," he moaned. "Spread those legs so I can see you."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny shook her head, turning her face away as her cheeks flared. Dwayne's mouth caught hers easily, his tongue fluttering against her lips. "Too cute, but being shy is just going to make us try harder," he breathed, lips rubbing hers as his hands caught under her knees, spreading her legs wide for his packmate.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">“Oh God,” she squeaked stunned at the move and the heady look on the blond’s face.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fuck, you need to see this. Pure heaven," Paulie sighed, his fingers grazing the skin above the pouting lips. Warmth flooded her and she shivered, suddenly regretting her vanity that had urged her to landscape as she had the means. "So smooth," he drawled and ran a single calloused in tantalizing circles around her opening. Her squeaks were muffled by Dwayne's hungry mouth. Paul's fingers worked on her mons, massaging small circles in tandem. "Just relax. You're way too tense. You need some major TLC, girl," he added, thumbs skimming up each side of her sex.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"And by that he means tender loving cunnilingus," Dwayne chuckled, his fingers toying her nipples to steady hardness before lightly tugging. She was lost, completely drowned in the electric sparks popping under her skin.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Mmmhmmm," Paul agreed, forefinger brushing just the barest bit of her clit. Jinny shook, stunned at how such a simple touch could make her crazy. When his fingertip slowly pressed in she winced at the unfamiliar territory, retreating even as he pulled out. It had been a while since she’d had reason to tend to to herself, and the stress of the past few months had done her no favors. "Way too tight," he warned with a look up to his friend. "But that can be fixed. We’ve got all night," he assured her, moaning as he inhaled deeply from her scent. He turned his face and pressed a long, slow kiss to a spot on her inner thigh. The touch made her jump, and she would have attributed it to the injury it had taken weeks before, but it had healed up without any trouble since then. She could barely see the blue-grey of his eyes through her haze, but the glitter in them was downright wicked. "You want it honey?"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I..." She nodded dimly, gasping at the sharp nip on her earlobe.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Tell him or I'll stop," Dwayne's silken voice threatened, his hands stilling for emphasis.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Please," she managed, knowing she was probably the color of a ripe tomato. It was hard to admit, but they seemed to appreciate honesty. "No one’s…uh, I’ve always wanted to know what....that...felt like," she added, trying to look anywhere but Paul’s face. It was true, most of her stories about them contained oral vignettes simply because that was a high point of curiosity for her. And she was pretty sure the whole draw of the vampire was a mass oral fixation, anyway.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What what felt like?" Paulie asked innocently, even as he slid one of her legs over his firm shoulder.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You know!" she hissed, barely able to stand it when the vampire behind her began to nuzzle the back of her neck. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No shame in saying it. That way he knows exactly what you want," Dwayne murmured as Paul slid her other leg over his other shoulder, rumbling low in approval, his hands smoothing from her hips to her thighs.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Your mouth, I want it on me!" she snapped, hips bucking as his face pressed in and she felt the barest hint of his lips against her in a series of chaste butterfly kisses.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Like that?" Paul teased, still only scattering soft presses of his mouth against her heat.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"More," she breathed. "Want your tongue on me..in me," she added in a whisper. She could feel his pleased shudder under her legs, his stare on her most intimate place. His thumb was circling the skin right below her sex, almost taunting her to speak.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Hmm, where do you want me again?”</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Paul!" she pleaded, hips rocking impatiently.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I think she means right here,” Dwayne breathed, and his hand slid down her body, fingers gliding to spread her sex wide for his friend. His fingers stroked either side of her opening, exposing her to Paul’s hungry eyes.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Is that so? You want me there, Jin? You want my tongue all over your little clit, or deep inside, lubing you up to take our cocks?”</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> It was all Jinny could do to keep breathing. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Better put your mouth to something besides talking," Dwayne chuckled, releasing her mound and resuming the massage of her breasts almost casually.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh I'll put my mouth to something," Paul growled, tongue darting little flicks over her lower lips, his thumb always circling just south of where she wanted him to touch her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh shit," she gasped, shuddering with pleasure.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You like that?" Dwayne rasped in her ear, the flats of his thumbs gliding up and down her nipples. She nodded dumbly, only able to feel. Her hands tightened into fists when Paul sucked a bit of her into his mouth, worrying it lovingly between his lips. His thumb lifted from its torture only to land on the tiny hood over her clit to resume the steady rubbing.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fuck!" she gulped, the fire building in the pit lower than her stomach. She clenched her teeth, determined to hang on until he did what she wanted.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Still, it was a shock when his fingers gently pulled her open and his tongue slipped up inside. She was aware of Dwayne pinning her down against him, his mouth having its way with her earlobe as Paul's arms clamped over her hips to pin her right up against his talented mouth. His tongue slowly licked at her, always nudging her clit from underneath before sliding deep, so deep into her. It swirled inside her, his mouth flush with her body as if he was in the middle of a serious makeout session.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was going to explode; it was too good to be true. She was unable to stop the cries that tore from her throat and probably had Paul's neck in a choke hold, but she still didn't really care. When his lips surrounded her clit she knew she had to be near death; only heaven could have been that nice.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul pulled away just as she was about to tumble over, his tongue gliding over his lips with teasing satisfaction. "Fuck, Jin, you taste perfect. Really hit the spot," he groaned. "Seriously, bro, you have <em>got</em> to get in on that."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh I plan to," the voice behind her purred.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"But...why..." she stammered, suddenly infuriated by Paul's damn innocent face. "You <em>stopped</em>!?" she snarled as he laughed and pulled away, his strength easily able to pry her legs from around his neck. It didn’t occur to her that he was passing her thighs to Dwayne until Paul’s hands splayed over her hips. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Not stopping, just making sure I’m on the right track,” he chuckled with wink. “Besides, you’ve had such a rough time, you should let us do the work,” he added before he dove in and parted her folds with a long, slow lick.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny cried out, the sound wet and wanton to her ears, and tried to roll her hips up to meet Paul’s mouth…and couldn’t. He growled, eyes gold and feral, though the rest of his face was unchanged. Fear shot through her, but it was also so incredibly hot she couldn’t help but grow wet at the sight.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“That’s right. You let him get you nice and slick,” Dwayne breathed, mouth sucking hard at her neck as he held her legs fast. “You’re ours, baby girl, you let us take care of you now,” he added, and she cried out a long, strangled shout as Paul sealed his mouth over her. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She could have sworn she heard him rumble “Mine,” was almost certain that Dwayne echoed the word in a low growl behind her, but was sure it was her pervy imagination – for all she knew the whole <em>thing</em>was her pervy imagination. His mouth nibbled and sucked all of her, tongue lashing and bathing her clit until her whole world was white, hot, sharp pleasure and she was falling over the edge in a series of long, mewling gasps.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It took her a good few moments to come back to herself, and she stared dumbly at Paul’s cheek on her leg. For a brief second it was almost like there was something close to adoration there, but as soon as he caught her eyes it was replaced by a smug grin. His chin and mouth were damp with her, but his eyes still glittered, though they’d gone back to blue. “Well, that’s good for a start,” he reasoned.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“A…a <em>start?”</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p3">Dwayne chuckled behind her, lowered her legs, even rubbed them to work the circulation back.</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Duh, that’s just an appetizer, sweetness. You’ll need more than that before we get to the main course. You are going to feel <em>good</em>. I wanna see you absolutely lose it," Paul drawled, glancing over her shoulder to his friend. She muttered curses and squirmed against the other vamp, but Dwayne only chuckled softly and held her to him.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh you're <em>evil,</em>" he laughed and she had the notion that she was missing something. "I'll go for that, but the focus should be on her."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No prob there," Paul assured him before turning his grin on her. "We're going to play a little game, Jinny," he explained and though his hands on her legs felt nice, the heat that had consumed her flash-froze to ice.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0031"><h2>31. Can't Fight this Feeling</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>yeah, still more smut. Depending on your point of view, I'm sorry or you're welcome</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No need to be afraid," Dwayne assured her, his mouth pressing softly on her cheek as he rolled out from under her. "We want you to lay back and relax." </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She frowned, the pulsing between her legs warring with her better sense. <em>My luck that was just a distraction and he’s going to change, rip my heart out, and masturbate with it.</em></span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"> "Put your hands over your head...go on," he continued. She bit her lip and slowly complied, clasping her hands together over her head, waiting with nerves clear on her face. She didn't know why she did as they asked but they hadn't hurt her...yet.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Good," Paul approved, and let his eyes roam over her in a long, leisurely path. "Beautiful. Now just keep them there - no matter what," he added and the wink he gave her affirmed that she was in for it.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne's hands cupped her face and she felt the urge to wriggle away or bury her hands in his hair, just as she fought to determine whether he was a threat or not. Deep down they were both dangerous. Despite the fact that Paul had tried to kill her, she still gravitated to his honest, likeable temperament. Dwayne was harder to read with his emotions that came out of nowhere, not to mention the intensity that thrived behind everything he did. With Paul there would always be a warning, unless she was unconscious. With Dwayne she'd never know. She found herself shuddering as his eyes demanded her focus, taking in her own eyes tinged with fear and curiosity though he gave nothing away in return. Her breath began to rise, constricting against her chest the longer she searched his face and found nothing. His lips curled slowly into a soft smile that  transformed his face to something almost gentle and added a whole new level of confusion in her mind.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You need to learn to trust, kitten," he murmured, tracing her cheekbones, her lower lip with a fingertip. "You will in time." His face lowered and she braced herself for another smoldering kiss, but the his mouth instead pressed against her cheek, her jaw, the soft darkness of his hair tickling against her neck. Her arms involuntarily twitched and she jumped at the hand that locked around her wrists.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You can make sounds, you know. Does a guy good to know how much his girl needs him.” She almost bit through her lip as Paul's bemused face came into view. Unlike his friend, he held nothing back until she was very aware of his energy, his appeal, his flightiness. It would never do to change it, it was part of his charm, but it was obvious he'd inevitably grow tired of her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">A frown clouded his face and Paul shook his head. "Stop thinking," he urged and some distant part of her brain unclenched. "You have to let us...you have to believe that we don't want to just fuck you," he added, smiling slyly. "We want to explore you." His lips curled around her earlobe, tearing her mind between his insistent sucking and Dwayne's mouth on the opposite side of her neck. Somehow that sounded so much more dangerous than a good fuck. Paul's fingers lazily traced down her collarbone and her lower lip was promptly nibbled. She tensed at the feel of teeth on such tender skin, the barest scrape of what that mouth was capable of.</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space"> Dwayne’s dipped to her collarbone, then her cleavage, bathing the cuts there with the flat of his tongue. Her eyes widened as the wounds slowly healed as she watched with the touch of his saliva.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">When Paul pulled up and cast his eyes down her body she tugged against his hands. The last thing she needed was to hear some smart remark about her stats versus the characters she wrote.</span>
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Damn," he muttered, watching with fascination as she squirmed against his hold on her arms.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Aren't her tits gorgeous?" Dwayne supplied, his fingers rippling up her side when she opened her mouth in protest. A sharp screech came out instead, inciting amused laughter. "Sensitive there?" he teased and Jinny found her teeth grinding as his mouth lapped at the cuts on her arms, sealing them. It wasn’t his fault they happened to be on some of her more sensitive spots, but the light flicks of his tongue and the brush of his hair on her skin was enough to drive her mental.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Bastard," she hissed, trying to tell herself she wasn't ticklish, to put her mind past the horrible ripples that were only a few steps removed from orgasm. He didn't seem perturbed by comment at all and began fluttering his mouth over the tender underside of her upper arm. "Don't!" she gasped, struggling to roll away, cheeks burning at their grins.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We'll have to play with that later," Dwayne chuckled, the brush of his hair on her skin leaving her too sensitized. "Right now I'm interested in other things," he breathed, his eyes raking over her body. A low rumble of approval came from somewhere deep in his chest as his hands cupped her breasts, slowly squeezing and pressing them together, forcing her to watch every reaction that came across his face.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Wonder if they taste as sweet as they look," Paul mused, his head tilting just so, the firelight bouncing off of his hair to thankfully draw her attention away from his expression. She almost wished he was in his vampire face, at least then she'd know what that meant. When he was behaving like this, when either of them were, she was horribly clueless. His gaze slid sideways and he smirked at Dwayne. "You wanna find out? It's only fair, I got to taste her pussy first."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The grin that Dwayne replied with nearly made her forget herself and dart off the bed. Paul's hand on her wrist squeezed briefly, a gentle reminder of what was expected. "Would you like that, Jin?" Dwayne asked as he thumbed the very tip of one of her nipples. "Think of how good it'll feel to have those sweet little nipples sucked on," he urged, watching her eyes flutter closed with soft amusement.</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space"> “Fuck, my mouth’s watering at the thought.”</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yes," she groaned, and the blush slid all the way down to the breasts both vampires were staring at as she pushed towards Dwayne's teasing fingers.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul's teeth came more into view when he grinned. "So the shy little kitten likes to be talked dirty to," he observed, prompting the red hue on her skin to turn darker. Dwayne's face looked almost pained.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"God, you were right Paulie, we're damn lucky. She’s an easy blusher on top of it all!" She wondered if she was doomed to a quick death because of excellent circulation, but by the looks on their faces it seemed to be a sex thing. If boys were weird, vampire males were far weirder. Though they did have their benefits.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">The corners of Dwayne's mouth curled up as his head lowered towards the hand that tilted her breast up towards that sumptuous smile. Her chest rose and stilled with her breath as she waited expectantly for him to devour her. She watched mutely, hanging on every slight variation of movement as his fingertips pressed into the skin of her left breast, the variation of tan on the soft pink blush that covered her so hot that she felt herself actually grow damp at that simple action. His smile broadened and his fingers pushed her breast higher as his face slunk down to meet it.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">The tip of his tongue swept teasingly against the skin directly under the soft mound he was cradling and Jinny gasped even though she had meant to regain some of her composure. The soft wet velvet of his tongue slid painfully slow up the underside of her breast, leaving off at the very edge of her areole before beginning another swipe next to where it had started. A strangled moan worked its way out of her throat, her eyes trapped by the dark ones that never stopped looking at her. When the underside of her breast was thoroughly teased he gently pressed the mound towards her other breast before ducking his head again. She thought she was ready for it, but the suddenly soft, chaste kisses that were feathered up the side of her breast made her exhale in a ragged stream of breath.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">He was killing her, even if it wasn't in the literal sense. It was like every nerve ending was focused in on that one breast; she was barely aware of what any of the rest of her was doing, save that she was ungodly wet and empty.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">Paul snickered beside her, his hand absently cupping her other breast, fingers toying with the soft skin there in a teasing massage. "I told you. Hours," he remarked, his voice right in her ear. Something wet, presumably the tip of his tongue, curled under her earlobe and drew it into his mouth, causing her to arch up towards the ministrations, inadvertently pushing her breast up against Dwayne's cheek. He gave a quiet sound that suspiciously resembled a low growl before rubbing his jaw against the tender skin. The pool of fire that had been simmering in her for what seemed a slow eternity ignited into an all-out inferno. All she wanted was to sink her hands in that hair and have him in her, or have one of them in her, something, any variation!</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul's hair trailed against her skin as he brought his mouth down to her shoulder, tasting the skin there as his hand squeezed and rubbed circles into her breast. If her hands had been free she would have been sorely tempted to grab his hand, jam it between her legs, and tell him what</span>
  
  <span class="s1">to do with it. Two on one had seemed like <em>such</em>a good idea when she read or wrote pairings to that effect, but it was pure torture to experience. Pure, delicious torture.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Payback's a bitch. You took your time so we're not going to cheap out on you," the blond chuckled, his voice low and throaty as his fingertips came to a point at her nipple before tugging softly. But she wasn't paying attention, no matter how good the action made her feel. Her eyes were fixed firmly on Dwayne's mouth that had opened in a beautiful, sexy grin.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">That showcased his fangs.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her wiggling turned to full-fledged struggling and she narrowly missed impaling her nipple on the source of her panic. Dwayne's lips curled back over his teeth when he frowned and Paul's hand clamped down on her arms. "Calm down!" he urged, and she whimpered as the presence of both of their minds slunk over hers to stifle down the terror that threatened the course of events.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"Chill out girl! He's not gonna hurt you!" </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Then just what the hell is he intending to do with those things?" she snapped, eyeing the closed line of Dwayne's mouth.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I wouldn't bite you unless you gave permission. Believe me, it’s part of who we are, even during sex, but I wouldn’t do it until you’re ready," Dwayne sighed, his hand still idly fondling her breast. "They're going to show, even when we're enjoying ourselves. It doesn't mean you're in any danger." </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You must think I’m stupid,” she hissed. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Look, we know why it scares you, but trust me when I say that it can be fun for you," Dwayne insisted. She gave him a skeptical look, but the argument made sense...kind of. And she gathered it was something she'd have to see for herself. If they really did mean her harm, she couldn't exactly fight them off at any rate.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Alright," she finally murmured. "But no biting," she added hastily as he started to open his mouth.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">"No biting," he agreed, though there was slight disappointment in his deep brown eyes. The glint of firelight on the wicked canines made her shudder as soon as they slid into view and his mouth connected with her skin.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">She felt the soft pull of his lips at the side of her breast first, and then the wet flick of the very tip of his tongue before Dwayne's mouth slid downward, opening slowly against the pale skin. A soft scraping feeling drew over her skin, but there were two places where the contact was a little harder, a little more intense, a little more dangerous. It was the oral equivalent of someone pinching just below the level that would do any real damage. Jinny's eyes widened at the sharp pleasure and the temptation to buck fought with the realization of what exactly was causing her to feel that way.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh my God," she whispered, staring as Dwayne smirked up at her, moving his mouth up to her nipple as she watched. His fangs skidded around the areole, drawing out soft gasps as the tip of one tooth slid precariously up the soft peak before he gently pressed a kiss to the very tip.</span>
  
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"See, girl? Nothing wrong with a little nibblin'," Paul chuckled, his free hand pressing low on her abs as his own mouth skidded from her shoulder to her breast, leaving a faint, faint pink double line that marked his path before it slowly faded away. She groaned as his tongue lapped around her nipple before his lips clamped down and he began to suck steadily. In contrast, Dwayne used his teeth to toy with her other peak, nudging it with a fang before finally giving in and enveloping it within the warmth of his mouth. She could barely stand to look down at the contrasting faces, both trained only on her until she didn't know which set of eyes to look at, the deep dark brown or the wicked blue-tinted grey. Dwayne chuckled, the sound pulsing right into her skin before he slid his mouth off of her nipple, kissing it lightly before swirling his tongue in the valley between her breasts.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Told you she was sweet," Paul rumbled, and she was dimly aware of his leg curling between hers, tugging her right leg away from the left and keeping it in place. She arched against the hand that held her wrists above her head, but his grip wasn't about to give.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Delicious," Dwayne agreed, and she jumped when his mouth slid up towards the peak that Paul was attending to, fangs skimming over the skin just out of reach of the other mouth.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Watch it," Paul warned, quickly moving himself to the far side of her breast.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You're the one that said I could taste her breasts," Dwayne pointed out.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Sorry, I couldn't help myself," Paul admitted, and she didn't catch on as to why he was smirking</span>
  
  <span class="s1">against the side of her breast until she felt her other leg pulled to the side and held in place by Dwayne's knee. He stretched out against her side, and as Paul's hand shifted against her wrists he added one of his own to keep her hands in place. She couldn't find words and let her startled face do the talking. Dwayne's hand slid down her torso as Paul's veered off to stroke her thigh.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Just gonna pet you, baby," Dwayne murmured into her ear as his hand cupped her sex, his eyes on hers. There was something primal and possessive about the way he held her in his hand, all  his fingers massaging her gently. She moaned and lifted her hips, pressing eagerly against his hand, too far gone to think of how she must look or what they must think. He drew her lower lips between his fingers, tugging lightly before sliding a finger between until he brushed against her clit. The squeak she produced at the sudden flare of feeling between her legs would have been humiliating if Dwayne's moan hadn't accompanied it.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"You like my finger there?" he asked, his fingertip rubbing slow circles at different points on her clit.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yes," she choked out when he paused his ministrations, the slight raise of his eyebrows all she needed to see to know an answer was required. Paul chuckled against her neck, his hand working slowly up and down her leg, his lips and cheek nuzzling the skin on her shoulder.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"See, not so bad," Paul murmured as the tips of his fangs teased lightly at her collar bone. She could only focus on Dwayne's intense face. Hair fell around his cheeks, nearly blocking his features from view save for the hunger playing across his mouth and the glitter in his eyes. His fingertip slipped lower, wetting itself against her entry before he began to coat her lips, her clit, her opening with her juices with small circles of his fingertips. Jinny moaned, her legs pressing open against the knees that held her down, her hips arching up willingly. Dwayne smiled and pressed his mouth softly between her breasts in a slow, warm kiss as his knuckle skimmed back up across her lips, coating her with her own arousal.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You like me petting you there," he teased, his voice warm and seductive yet oddly tranquil. She had been right, it was a lethal tool during seduction. And it was one she liked a hell of a lot. "Would you like me to pet you deeper, kitten? Would that make you purr?" he asked, his mouth raising and moving to the left where he lightly scraped her nipple with his fangs when she couldn't get the answer out of her mouth. She barely managed a nod. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was afraid he wouldn't be satisfied, but Dwayne seemed to understand the reason for her lack of words and grinned wickedly as his finger slowly rubbed between her lower lips and pressed inside. This time her body welcomed the intrusion and she arched towards his hand when he gently twisted and worked the digit in her. "See, you just needed to relax a little," he</span>
  <span class="s1">assured her. Jinny quickly ducked to the side but was met with Paul's eager mouth. He was calmer than he had been, his tongue exploring around her mouth before tangling again with her own tongue, slowly coaxing her to follow his lead.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Dwayne's finger took its time, slowly finding and massaging tight spots in her before it thrust deeper and curled against something that nearly made her sit up straight. If she had been able to push them off her she probably would have mounted him on the spot.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Score, you found it!" Paul breathed when he pulled away. Jinny was amazed his grin didn't light the whole damn room.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne's grin was just as bright. "Mmmhmm," he agreed, never ceasing the motions of his hand, his thumb circling her clit until she gasped and bucked hard against them. "Wanna see where it is?" he offered.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Paul's leer was all she needed to know, and the hand moving from her thigh to between her legs confirmed the suspicions that nearly shorted out her brain.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Damn, you're wet," Paul breathed as soon as his fingers skidded around his friend's finger, nudging Dwayne's thumb out of the way to work her clit.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"S-sorry," she managed, gasping as her clit was gently pinched. She never would have dreamt that would have felt anywhere near good, but the sudden action made her hips twist hard against the hands working her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"That's a good thing, girly!" Paul insisted. "It lets us know your hot pussy will be all ready to love us right," he added, laughing at her embarrassed flush. "Now show me where our girl's sweet spot is at," he added, and Jinny gasped and closed her eyes as a second finger was added. It wasn't painful or a horrible invasion, but knowing that each vampire had a finger in her, that each ripple of pleasure that coursed through her was because they were both so intent on fingering her was too much. As if they felt the need to dare her to keep her eyes closed two mouths began to skim over her breasts and stomach, tasting the beads of sweat that had begun to cluster on her skin.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Right...here," Dwayne murmured, and she felt the fingers inside her shift as Paul slowly circled that spot that tore her breath out of her throat.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh, <em>fuck</em>," she gasped, limbs jerking against their hands and knees.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You like that, girlie? We told you, you let us take care of you now," Paul teased as the delicious friction inside her increased. Her mind couldn't process the different rhythms they used, or how intently they were rubbing at her inner walls and clit. She couldn't get her mouth to respond, so as soon as they began to pull away she quickly clenched herself down on their fingers, insistently keeping them inside. Dwayne's face clenched and Paul moaned at her boldness, and they restarted their attentions. Jinny groaned as the fire began to build deep inside her, gaining momentum at a much faster pace than before.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dark hair across her torso and Dwayne's tongue lapped her nipple. Paul stared up at her, keeping her face on his. "That's it, Jin. Come for us. Let us make you feel the best you've ever felt," he urged. The fingers inside her increased the pressure on that spot and one of them rubbed insistently at the side of her clit. She was lost. Her entire body snapped and for once giving in seemed the right thing to do as she screamed and arched up into their hands, shaking as the fire rippled through her body</span>
  
  <span class="s1">in an intense, delicious climax.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">All the fear, the anxiety left her for those few wonderful moments as she rode the feelings out before coming down, clinging with her freed arms to the first body she could reach. It wasn't until she heard the awed cursing that she remembered why she didn't often let herself go that hard.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Holy shit, a woman that comes more than I do," Paul laughed, shaking his head in twisted admiration. Her cheeks burned, hell her whole body was burning, and she struggled to curl in on herself so she could hide, but they were having none of it.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I should have mentioned. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" She paused mid-word and stared at Paul's bemused face before the luscious wetness on her pussy and the sounds of lapping connected with her brain.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Honey, that is <em>hot</em>, don't you worry ‘bout something like that," Paul chuckled, kissing her cheek. "You didn't get enough of the sheets. ‘Sides, it would serve me right to sleep in a wet spot for once in my life.” He grinned when she dared to open an eye and glance down the length of her body. Dark hair fluttered against her skin and she let her head fall back, unable to watch.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Dwayne took his time cleaning her thighs and her mons with his tongue,</span>
  <span class="s1">alternating soft laps with long, purposeful strokes. Jinny didn't care that she was whispering curses under her breath and was</span>
  
  <span class="s1">slowly beginning to accept that her responses weren't</span>
  
  <span class="s1">induced by any of their mind powers. Dwayne's surprised reaction when she reached down and pressed his head directly against her heat proved that, and it also assured her that she was indeed playing with some sort of fire. His growl of approval sent the vibrations straight into her pussy and she arched up against him in response, unable to take any more of their teasing.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Lick me, dammit," she demanded, shocked at her tone and her sheer guts for telling something with predator's teeth to put his mouth to her most vulnerable point. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Fuck yes,” he groaned and complied, eagerly bathing her drenched sex with his tongue before pulling her open with his fingers and nibbling up every inch of her. Somehow her hand tangled in Paul's hair and he could thankfully take a hint, leaning down to kiss her long and slow. Dwayne had just begun to love her clit with his tongue before he pulled away, lips smiling and damp with her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"If I keep that up I won't stop all night," he admitted, sucking the rest of her juices off his fingers while she watched with wide eyes. "And I think you're finally loosened up enough for us," he added, grinning at her shiver.</span>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0032"><h2>32. Let's Spend the Night Together</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Paul gets his chance to shine and work through some of Jinny's doubts.</p><p>or - more of the extended smut marathon.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny squirmed, aware of just how caged in she was in by the vampires on either side of her. The bubbling fears slowly dissipated when Dwayne's long fingers curled around one of her wrists, bringing her hand to his mouth. "Paul'll go first," he murmured, the blunt statement urging the blood up to her face. He smiled slightly. She was sure that they were trying to be considerate, but she doubted Paul would be any easier for her to take.</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space"> It felt weird on some level that she went along with things so easily. Her body craved more, but it wasn’t just that. There was something else, something deeper that <em>needed </em>something from them, and it quietly scared her that she doubted she could’ve walked away if she’d tried.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne guided her fingertips across his mouth and relaxed into the mattress as his lips slid down each finger. The sharper press of his fangs to the center of her palm made her gasp and stare at his grin before his mouth opened and drew a finger inside. Jinny moaned, hips lifting at the heat that flared down her arm from the simple action. Paul slinked up closer on her side, his lips sucking at her jaw until she turned her head and gave him her mouth. The blond smiled his approval against her lips, tongue gliding along hers until all she could taste was him. The suction on her fingers increased and alternated with the swirl of Dwayne's hot tongue and the nip of his teeth. When she was panting, Paul rolled to straddle her, putting his weight on his forearms on each side of her head so that his eyes were right above hers.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Anticipation glittered there, but so did anxiety. He lay poised like that, on her but not in her, his lips slightly parted, but he uncharacteristically kept his mouth shut. It was as if he was afraid he'd say the wrong thing...but what could he really say that hadn't already been said? No words could wipe out her nerves under the circumstances. And she found she didn't want more words of reassurance, didn't want to worry about the amount of truth in those words. <em>No, it’s time. This is right. It has to be. </em>That strange, deeper thing urged her on, and Jinny surprised herself by suddenly burying her free hand in his hair. For once it was his eyes that widened, and she chuckled as he tensed above her. Paul's hair fell easily against the back of her hand as her fingers curled against his scalp before slipping down the back of his neck and urging him down. It was odd to feel so sure with so many loose ends and variables, but she would rather have it be at the hands of two vampires who seemed genuinely interested than some idiot who didn't know what he was doing. There were variables with humans, too. A human male could easily crush her or hurt her just as badly as Paul or Dwayne could. The only obvious difference was the teeth. Jinny arched up against Paul as his mouth melted down onto hers, fingertips moving to brush lightly against her temples. No, the difference was that something deeper, something emotional that she didn't want to admit to herself. </span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Please," she whispered against his mouth, nibbling over his lower lip. She needed to get her mind out of its epiphany and onto something more in the moment. He easily took control, his mouth taunting hers as he positioned himself against her opening. Jinny inadvertently squeezed Dwayne's hand when it hit her that the probing between her legs wasn't a hand or tongue. The brunette pressed his mouth against her fluttering pulse, though her skin only felt the soft give of his lips smoothing down the pathway of her veins. Paul nodded in approval, still watching her face carefully as he aimed himself and pressed in, pausing when she gasped and tensed at the invasion.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"I still want it," she assured him, tilting her chin up slightly, defiant even of her own nerves.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Enough to let me take control?" he asked, tilting his head as she considered his request, shuddering at the mouth that slid up and down the inside of her arm. She nodded and Paul's grin was all fang as he took her hips in both hands, slowly but steady pressing into her. Pain of the deep invasion flowered in sharp pulses and she dug her nails deep into the skin of his shoulders. The blond rocker hissed, but shook his head when she started to let go. "No, go ahead. I don't mind</span>
  
  <span class="s1">that. I wanna feel it. Share it all with me, even when it hurts," he urged. She was surprised by how open his eyes seemed, how alert and searching his face was. He resumed his movement, his own face contorting with hers when her nails bit harder into his skin. It was odd having him encourage her to give him more, to realize that he could take a hell of a lot more pain than what she could give. She fought back a few cries and expletives, settling instead for some harsh breaths.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Breathe deeper, Jin. Don't arch your hips so much so fast. You’re doing so good, fuck you look so sweet taking him," Dwayne murmured, nipping at each of her fingertips in turn. She nodded and slowly began to relax under Paul, regaining her breathing and composure. It was then that she finally realized he was buried to the hilt, his hips pressing intimately against hers. Her eyes widened as she adjusted to the feeling of being filled, and she slowly relaxed her hold on Paul's shoulders. For his part he was panting, regarding her through half-closed lids. He shifted his weight and she gasped, wriggling against the flood of sensations that small movement caused. His grin grew downright smarmy. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You okay, sweetness?” he asked, voice low and sinful in her ear.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Yeah, I…yeah, you can move.”</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"How does she feel?" Dwayne asked, his hand tangling deep in her hair. His blatant question turned her pink, but the eager glint in his eye made her wet.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Paul's answering grin nearly made her hide her face.</span>
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Perfect. Tight, hot, slick, and loving," Paul groaned, face tightening as he wiggled his hips against her. Jinny squeaked and tightened her grip on him, almost scared that if he moved too much she'd have a nuclear meltdown. "Damn, Jin. I haven't had anyone hold me so tight in a long time," he groaned, and for the first time, Jinny was able to blink through her haze and see the quiet fear that flickered in the vampire's eyes, made itself visible in the set of his jaw. Maybe knowing what the future would hold, hovering on the edge of giving up some of one's own power and control was terrifying for anyone, mortal or vampire.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul's grin slowly returned as he adjusted to her, whatever thoughts that had ruffled him clearly dealt with. She couldn't bring herself to look away from the attractive leer above her, but she could vaguely make Dwayne out in her peripheral vision, could definitely still feel his hand in her hair. "Just relax and feel him, Jin. Nothin' to fear from a good time," he murmured, and she closed her eyes at the feel of a soft mouth against her temple. Against her better judgment her memory brought up that wonderful image from the movie where David bit through the skull of a Surf Nazi and she shuddered. Dwayne moved away after touching her only with the unhazardous part of his mouth, and she let the breath and the thought go. "You must have been born tense," he remarked and she started to make a face but her efforts turned into a strangled mew when Paul began to move.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh God," she squeaked, rocking her hips instinctively against the thrusts that were slow and regular, giving her plenty of time to adjust to the movement. Maybe Paul just really wanted her to feel every inch of him, because that was a definite side effect of his effort.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Bout time you loved me with something other than your keyboard and that dirty little mind of yours," he growled, leaning far over her so his mouth was poised right by her ear, the ends of his hair just barely tickling her cheek and shoulder. "This feel as good as what you had in your head?" he added, fangs skimming down her neck, making her buck up into the firm line of his chest.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Better," she gasped, pressing her nose into the side of Paul's neck. Jinny managed to open an eye and moaned. Dwayne was sprawled out beside them, and though one hand was still cradled against her scalp, the other she</span>
  
  <span class="s1">only noticed because of the steady movement that was happening below his waist. A part of her relaxed, relieved to see no outward sign of jealousy, but the rest of her nearly spiraled out of control at the intense heat in his eyes. Paul angled his hips slightly and she cried out, hooked a leg around his waist and dragged her nails lightly down his shoulders because it just felt too damn good.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Somehow the rush of pleasure that built inside her made her lose control of her brain and her senses. One of her hands slid up into Paul’s hair and tugged at a section close to the nape of his neck. He jerked against her and warmth flowered deep inside. "How ‘bout you? Do you like giving it to the little loudmouth?" she asked, before the editor's part of her brain caught up with the rest of her. Her eyes widened comically, though she was sure nothing could be more amusing than the surprised look on Paul's face.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne's chuckle made her realize that she hadn't committed some sin. "She's got you there, man. Though I don't think she realizes just how good we've been given how much she’s teased us, how many times we could've had her..." he mused, his voice tight at the back of his throat, the movement of the hand she couldn't quite see a little more erratic.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul withdrew until she was nearly empty before sliding back inside with a snap of his hips, a little harder and quicker than before. She gasped and slid up the bed a little, hands clasping at his hair, his shoulders, the air at the mixed feelings of fire and friction deep inside. "Fuck yeah,” he breathed. “I thought about just showing you why you should come with me in front of the cafe, just taking you against the wall and letting that do the convincing, but not everyone's into exhibitionism," he managed, though his voice was tightening with each stroke.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She would have given him a piece of her mind, but his head dipped suddenly and his tongue trailed around her nipple, ending any argument she could have come up with.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"And if I had woken up on time that night you ran off the boys would’ve gotten a hell of an eyeful..." Dwayne trailed off, but the way his mouth sinfully curved around his fangs proved that Jinny didn't have to be a mind reader to catch what he was thinking. Paul leaned up and Dwayne's palm slid straight down her abs until his fingertips brushed her clit. She moaned and shuddered, pressing up as Paul continued to thrust into her, finding a rhythm.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"And don't think I wasn't tempted to drop the disguise and slide into your room one night to really tuck you in right," Paul added, grinning when she squirmed at the mental imagery that came from his words. His hips pressed intimately against hers and she shivered, her breath coming at soft little pants that triggered</span>
  
  <span class="s1">a low moan from the vampire on top of her. "You like me inside you, honey?" he purred, rocking into her even more instead of pulling out for another thrust. Jinny hissed and arched at the feelings such a subtle movement offered, inadvertently pressing her clit up against Dwayne's rubbing fingertips.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Fuck yes, don't stop," she hissed, growling low in her throat when the delicious movement of the hips against hers paused. Paul chuckled, though by the set of his face he looked as on edge as she was. </span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Not stopping, babe. Just adding some variety," he chuckled, his mouth once again dropping to envelop her nipple. Jinny groaned and pressed herself harder up against the blond, hissing when he slowly, purposefully pulled his mouth off and away while moving his hips in slow circles against hers. She couldn't exactly name the type of noises she was making, and she didn't really care. All she knew was that she didn't want him to stop anytime soon. Paul laughed when she cupped the back of his head and guided it back to her breast, his hands moving to her hips to hold her still. "Mmm, baby likes," he chuckled before slowly tracing her areole with the tip of his tongue, moaning at the way she clung to him with hands and the leg around his waist.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What tipped you off?" Dwayne mused, his mouth skimming and sucking at the sheen of sweat on her shoulder and collar bone. His fingers skidded around her clit, she was so wet, and she was so damn close. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her eyes fluttered closed and she began to get lost in the sensations. <em>He could do anything he wants at this point and I wouldn’t care. This is way too good to be real. </em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">And then Paul stopped. Jinny's eyes flew open and he shook his head, but still had that damnable smirk on his face. "Here, pull off her," he advised, straightening his own position.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What are you doing?!" she squeaked, stuck in her sexual haze and unable to access all of the gloom and doom thoughts that had prevented her from giving in in the first place.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Just changing position a little," Paul reassured her, though the look on his face certainly didn't. Whereas she had seen him look smarmy, wicked, and downright sinful for half the evening he now was positively serious. She was so busy staring at his expression, that he easily moved her knees to hook over his shoulders.</span>
  
</p><p class="p1"> </p><p class="p1">
  
  <span class="s1">"What the...oh shit," she groaned, arching as the adjusted angle made her feel him all the more.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Lean her up a little bit," the blond suggested and Dwayne nodded. Apparently he knew where this was going, at least.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Alright, but careful. Not too hard," he advised. Suddenly he was behind her, raising her up just a little so she was leaning up at an angle...and could see directly down her body.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh God," she gasped, quickly shutting her eyes. A</span>
  
  <span class="s1">hand rippling up her side made her jump and nearly scream. Apparently her movement affected Paul just as much because he couldn't hold back a sudden, breathless gasp.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Eyes open, Jinny," Dwayne murmured before his hands smoothed over her shoulders, fingers just barely skimming over the top of her cleavage.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I want you to watch. See me do you," Paul told her. His eyes were bright and she knew he was feeling no pain, but his expression was bizarrely intent on his purpose. He pulled out a little, taking his time, before slowly pushing back into her. She gasped at how much more she could feel him at that angle and raised her hips, frowning when he stopped. "Jin baby, watch me," he reminded, glancing down at where they were connected to reaffirm that it wasn't her face she was supposed to be captivated with. He pulled out again and her mouth went slightly slack as she watched half his cock come into view, moist and glistening from her arousal. He paused, trembling, letting her get a good long look before slowly pushing back in. She felt it, but to see each inch of him go back into her <em>while </em>feeling it made her nearly lose control.</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space"> She had to fight the strangled moan that sight inspired.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He paused again and she could feel his smile, but couldn't look away from what she had just witnessed. "You see that? You see me in you? If you have to see it to believe it, then there's your proof. I'm in you, honey, make no mistake. It's no dream, no story. We're both real, both here, you’re ours, and I'm gonna fuck you deep until you lose control and come all over me. And then I’m gonna come so deep and long in you, you’ll be able to feel it in you every time you move," he growled, his speech more erratic the longer he tried to hold still. Her brain snapped. She’d always prided herself on the dirty talk she’d written for Paul, but hands own, he had her easily beat in the moment. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He really began to move in a steady, firm rhythm that had her back arching and her hands grabbing for what she could reach of him. Her eyes widened as she watched him fuck her, squirming to touch him as it finally all lined up in her head. He <em>was</em>real, he was <em>in</em>her, here he was, someone that she had never even considered herself with and he was...</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Close," she gasped, but it turned into a scream when he plunged all the way in, starting a chain reaction deep inside.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Paul moaned his head off when she clamped down around him, body twitching hard as it struggled to keep hold of the sizzling orgasm that threatened to push her completely out of her head. At some point his mouth came down on hers</span>
  
  <span class="s1">and she moaned at the feel of his whole body covering her. He groaned and thrust shallowly, working her through her climax, before he gripped her hips and pushed deep as he suddenly came, pouring himself into her while his tongue slipped deep into her mouth. She was so insanely aware of him: of his body rubbing against and inside her, of the soft noises of satisfaction he made, even how he smelled pressed right up against her. <em>Holy shit. That felt…way too perfect. </em>She groaned when they both calmed down and untangled themselves. For a split second she almost nuzzled against him and whispered some confession - some silly emotional slip of the once-virginal tongue - but then she realized once more that he was real and that she had no clue if he would want to hear that kind of crap. It was better to follow his example.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul groaned and rolled to her side, one arm wrapped tightly around her waist as he attempted to collect himself.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">"Man..." he managed, laughing softly into her hair. "You alright? That okay I didn't overdo it?" he asked quickly, head raising with comic swiftness.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She didn't open her eyes but smiled slightly. "I thought you didn't have to ask me things like that." A mouth fluttered over the bridge of her nose.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah, well, sometimes it's nice to hear them from your mouth," he admitted.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny nodded and turned her head to look at him, chuckling at his frazzled state. He still looked in control, but it was a very disheveled, sated, well-fucked kind of control. It suited him. "That was…amazing,” she breathed. “I'm fine, though I'll probably be stiff in the morning."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul laughed and lifted his head a little more. "Seems to me there's someone who's pretty stiff now," he laughed at the pained yet turned-on look on his friend's face. She turned her head to where Dwayne had moved at Paul's urging and laughed. He still had the intense, controlled look about him...but just barely.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Would it be too much to ask for a minute or two?" she chuckled.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Let's keep it to that, I don't want him coming after me because he's so desperate. Don’t want him getting jealous of my expertise," Paul cracked with the bravado that came with a good lay. She smirked, but knew it wouldn't be the same as with the blow job. For some reason, she just knew that she was expected to be with both of them that night. She didn’t quite get <em>why, </em>but that strange deeper part of her craved them both and wouldn’t be satisfied with things halfway finished. Plus, in a purely logical way it made twisted sense. It was chauvinistic to a point, but it was almost like the way the laws worked in the western-themed erotica books she had once been a fan of: a marriage or union could easily be annulled if a woman could prove her husband was lacking in his duties.</span>
  
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-converted-space"><em>Whoa, down girl, you can’t be thinking permanent with them. Just enjoy and live through the night, </em>she reminded herself.</span>
  <span class="s1">While she didn't dare consider either vampire a permanent life partner – she wasn’t totally delusional -  she figured neither of them would give her reason to complain or hold anything against them their first night together. It was their turf, their call. She could easily wait to escape or figure out what the terms of the game was, even if the thought of a time frame also scared the crap out of her. She glanced over at Dwayne - all tan and glittery-eyed and sensual -  and shivered.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">
    <em>It’s not like I won’t enjoy this in the meantime.</em>
  </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0033"><h2>33. Slow Ride</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dwayne gets his own chance to break down the walls that separate him and Jinny </p><p>or yes more smut. Back to something resembling plot in the next chapter, I swear. Comments and Kudos always welcome! Thanks to all who have let me know how I'm doing so far - you're amazing and appreciated!</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">It took a little while for Jinny's breathing to become even and for her heart to return to a normal rhythm. She had expected Paul to zone out and drop off once he had gotten his, but the sex seemed to give him more energy once he had recovered from the initial exhaustion. It was like being a vampire meant one never had to take vitamins or resort to energy drinks ever again. If only the health industry had known there was such a simple solution, although she doubted the FDA would approve of vampirism as a means of energy boosting.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne was doing his damndest to be the gentleman, but she could tell that the waiting was taking its toll. He had been all for toying with himself while watching her and his best friend, but now he was doing everything he could to keep his hands away from between his legs. What was most disconcerting, though, was that he wouldn't stop eyeing her, and she couldn't begin to tell what he was thinking even though he was staring at her.</span>
  <span class="apple-converted-space">  <em>It’s like the brain  haze when I watch too much TV, though I’m not that captivating.</em></span>
  <span class="s1">A sharp pinch on her ass made her yelp and she turned her head to glare at Paul.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He gave her a disarming grin. "What, it's all part of the therapy! You think bad about yourself, we give you reason not to!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"That's not how it works," she retorted, rolling her eyes and batting at his hand.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What, you think therapists are going to give out the real secrets? They wanna make money! Of course they're not going to tell!" he retorted</span>
  
  <span class="s1">and she groaned along with Dwayne.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Not another theory...I'm not going to delay getting off because you're going to start harping on <em>another </em>fucking conspiracy theory!" Dwayne muttered, looking for all the world that he was ready to chuck a pillow at the other vampire.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">He held up a large hand to stop Paul's defense. "I don't care if it makes sense! Besides, I can't help it if watching a shy little kitten turn into a wild cat turns me on. Damn," he added, shaking his head in admiration. Jinny felt the blush to her toes. <em>I wonder what they’d do if I hid under the covers.</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We'd just fish you out and tie you up with 'em," Paul replied, smirking at her dark look. "And he's right. I sure as hell wasn't expecting that kind of a reaction," he laughed, wincing as he stretched and moved a hand to the back of one shoulder. She leaned up to look and cringed at the welts that were already springing up, as well as a few places where she had clawed enough to draw a little blood.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Oh God, I'm -"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne's hand covered her mouth. "Don't apologize, he'll take it as an insult. As it is he's going to be gloating for days about how he made you go crazy. Besides, a couple of hours and he'll be healed. You can't hurt us like that, Jin, believe me. He's just not used to anyone who shows gratification beyond moaning and cooing and shit."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She shook her head as she pushed his hand away, once again amazed at what she was being compared to. She had felt so insignificant watching them with Brandi, seeing the others that they hunted, but they seemed to be the last things on their minds. "I don't get it! Why wouldn't anyone want to give it back to you? I mean...you just...Santa Carla must be filled with selfish bitches," she grumbled, blushing at Paul's surprised face and Dwayne's laugh.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Now that's a theory I'd love to hear, but later," Dwayne added as he stretched out beside her. One of his arms slid between her head and the pillow and the other curled low on her waist as his mouth covered hers. She relaxed into his arms, sighing softly as his tongue leisurely drew her own back into his mouth, giving her time to really taste him. She slowly drew her tongue along his before feeling the texture of the roof of his mouth, a gesture that drew a hard shiver from him. Jinny smiled and continued her gentle exploration, mindful of the hand running slow circles up and down her back. She was just about to curl her leg over Dwayne's hip when her tongue brushed against his teeth and nearly came into contact with a fang. She paused and stiffened before quickly drawing her tongue back into the safe haven of her own mouth.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">If it had been Paul it might have been another thing. As brash and as lethal as he was, he had a disarming quality that made her forget herself. With Dwayne, she could never quite let go all the way, never quite forget that he had been the one to originally suggest killing her, that he could look on her with such hard eyes if the situation called for it. <em>I’ll never be able to forget that someone like that has no business wanting someone like me. </em>It didn't matter in the back of her mind that Paul had actually tried to kill her or that anything Dwayne had done hadn't been helped by her actions or had been done out of ignorance. The sheer fact that she couldn't read him at all terrified her and added to his intimidation factor.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">He noticed the change in her behavior and took control of the kiss as his own leg slid over her hip and thigh. She gasped into his mouth when she felt his leg muscles contract around her before he rolled to his back, taking her with him. His knee firmly pressed her right against his erection and she moaned, her apprehensions once again decimated by his skill and her own desire. Dwayne's leg slowly slid away, releasing her, and he let her pull herself to a sitting position straddling his thighs, his hands traveling idly up and down her forearms.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I'm not gonna hurt you, girl," he assured her, though she was sure he could look right inside her and tell that she didn't fully believe it. "It may be easier for you this first time if you ride me," he added and she chewed her lip as her face clouded over. She quickly down and though she couldn't see all of him, she could very easily remember how intimidating he looked when he first disrobed, how much of a shock it had been to feel all of him, to take all of him in her throat, even if he hadn't demanded that.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I...I don't know how," she admitted,</span>
  
  <span class="s1">looking at both of them with the somewhat panicked expression of one who isn't used to being in charge.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Shh, hey, it's easy to learn," Paul reassured her, sitting up and kissing her cheek. "No worries, it's not like you missed out on some female memo! First times with someone new are always a little awkward, but you’re still having fun, right? It's just like riding a horse, piece of cake!"</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"The last time I tried to ride a damn horse the thing kept going off the trail into the woods and wouldn't do a thing I wanted it to," Jinny huffed, slowly crossing her arms over her breasts.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">She shook her head slowly, mind made up. <em>I’m going to make a fool of myself and he’ll never touch me again.</em>"I can't do this..."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne sat up, gently peeling her arms off the front of her chest before running his hands flat down her sides. She squirmed, but at least he wasn't tickling her. "Yes, you can. And what's more, I want you to." She gave him a quizzical look and he smiled, moving her legs so they curled around his waist, moving his own arms to support her lower back. The position was intimate, comforting, and terrifying all at once. The worst was that with the way he was addressing her she had no choice but to look up into his eyes. Dwayne smiled slighly, tugging her closer in against him, and the smile softened his features.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I know you're scared, Jin, but it's okay. We're not gonna laugh, we're not gonna let you fall. It's going to be a hell of a long time before you believe us, but we want this, too. And what</span>
  
  <span class="s1">I want most of all right at this moment is for you to let us teach you to ride. Trust us, kitten.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">You're not going to fall," he whispered, leaning in to just barely rub his mouth over hers.</span>
  
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Her taut muscles unwound slowly and she was dimly aware of Paul's chuckle. "Glad one of us reads all those self-help books," he muttered, ducking the wayward arm that Dwayne flung out to cuff him with. She rolled her eyes, but squealed in surprise when Paul appeared behind her, lifting her off of his friend with his hands well-placed under her thighs. Dwayne leaned back until he was once again sprawled on the bedspread. The sight of him laid out underneath her was insanely arousing. His hair and skin were a lovely contrast to the deep green of the sheets. The way his limbs were casually splayed about oozed male confidence.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She squeaked when Paul began moved her back over his friend's lap as Dwayne sat up against the pillows pushed against the headboard. Dwayne's smile was unreadable, but his eyes slowly and leisurely took a good long look at her. She couldn't tell if he was pleased with what he saw or not, but the erection his hand cradled definitely wasn't complaining. His eyes roamed over every part of her: her mussed hair, her slightly panicked expression, her lips swollen from all the kissing and sucking they had done, the breasts he had made such a fuss over earlier, her legs tucked up under her and held by the hands of his best friend, and the sex that was glistening and nearly level with his line of vision.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His long fingers curled around the base of his cock and he stroked it slowly. She shivered and took a few shallow breaths as Paul leaned in to line her up with it. "You want it, Jin?" Dwayne murmured, his voice slightly rough from want and having to wait for it.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She was very aware of what was beneath her spread legs, of what would be in her if only Paul would lower her just a little more. She did want it...and yet the thought of it scared her so much more than being with Paul had.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span">
    <em>I’m going to fuck this up, I just know it. </em>
  </span>
  <span class="s1">"I..." Her throat tightened as she struggled to read any sign of any emotion on his face and his smile softened. Paul's face was against her hair and he murmured something soothing that she couldn't quite hear before she was slowly lowered. She tensed, preparing herself for what would follow, but her eyes flew open at a soft, brief contact that didn't give her nearly enough of what she wanted. It wasn't dexterous enough to be a finger or supple enough to be a tongue, yet something was softly rubbing up against the line of her entrance. Paul pulled her up and away slightly and she gasped as she looked down to see Dwayne's erection, moist where he had been rubbing it against her.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You want it, Jinny?" he asked again, his tone softer this time. She nodded slowly, and his smile warmed. Once again Paul brought her towards the object she wasn't quite sure about and she moaned when Dwayne's tip slid across her. This time his head pressed between her lower lips and she moaned at the private contact, squirmed when he slid himself up to rub against her clit before she was once again tugged up and away. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“You think I was good, just think about how nice that’s gonna feel all up inside you, rubbing all your secret spots,” the blond drawled in her ear. She wanted to smack at Paul's arms but didn't dare do anything that would upset his balance and topple them both off</span>
  
  <span class="s1">the bed.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You want this?" Dwayne teased, his lips parting to show his teeth when she narrowed her eyes in frustration, his hand slowly running the length of what he had been teasing her with so she could see. "Do you want me to fill you up with this?" he added. She bucked slightly, trying to regain the feeling of his cock nuzzling between her legs, but Paul was holding her just shy of where she could feel Dwayne against her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Tell him, Jin," Paul urged, the tip of his tongue flicking up and down the nape of her neck. She moaned and nodded vehemently.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Yeah...yes, yes, I want it," she whispered. She hissed when she was once again lowered, but only so she could be teased by the head of Dwayne's cock. he pressed it up against her, parted her lips with himself, but left it sitting there.</span>
  
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Where do you want me, Jinny?" he rumbled, and though his tone seemed serious she realized that he was playing with her, teasing her into relaxing and giving the answers he needed. "You want me here?" he asked, pushing up slightly so he was more firmly prodding her. She groaned and tried to push herself down, but Paul wouldn't have it. It was torture to be suspended over Dwayne, just barely touching him, forced to realize how badly she did want it. "Just like this, or deeper?" Dwayne asked innocently.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Want you in my pussy, dammit," she growled, though her harsh tone was betrayed by the pout on her face. She moaned when Paul began to lower her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Put your knees on each side of his hips on the bed," Paul instructed and she obeyed. One of Dwayne's hands rested on her hip to steady her, the other still lining up his cock to her entrance.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Just slowly sit down on me, kitten," Dwayne told her. "A little at a time, very slow." She slowly sank onto him, but started to tense when he proved harder to take than Paul. "Easy," he soothed, the hand on her hip rubbing slow circles once his head had entered her. "Just feel me there. Feel me in you and get used to that." When her breathing became even Dwayne nodded and Paul slowly helped her slide down another inch. It went that way for a while, the process excruciatingly slow. She would suddenly be stilled or even raised up and then lowered once more. By the time she was sitting on Dwayne's lap with his length in her to the hilt, she was shaking and still hadn't a clue as to what she was supposed to do next.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Dwayne's hands held her firmly by the hips and he leaned back against the pillows, admiring the view. "Very nice. Just get used to me for a little bit," he urged, though he looked particularly smug when he ground his hips into hers oh-so-innocently, nearly causing her to fall onto him. It was hard to look into those eyes and realize that he was actually in her, that he was the one making her feel so full and stretched. It wasn't painful, but she wasn't quite sure if she was enjoying herself. Warmth began to gather back in the right places, though, but she couldn't get over the fact that she was supposed to apparently take charge, or please him, or do <em>something.</em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Here, just lean over and put your hands on his chest to brace yourself," Paul was telling her, gently pushing on her back. She shook her head and made her spine rigid, ignoring the rocker's frown.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"It's okay. You don't have to be that close if you don't want," Dwayne murmured, his own hands slowly beginning to guide her hips. Just raise and lower yourself. Not hard at all," he assured her. She tried, but it was hard without having something to hang onto for leverage, and the few unsteady movements she managed obviously weren't doing anything for him. "It takes time, you're doing fine," he soothed, but she knew better.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I can't do this!" she blurted, shaking her head, but too scared to try to pull off. <em>God dammit. I want to do this. I want to turn him on, want him to want me, but there’s just no way! </em></span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Damnit, yes you can if you just give yourself a chance!" Paul growled, one of his hands sliding from its place above Dwayne's when she rose up. His fingertips skidded along the tender skin of her side and she squealed, raising and twisting her hips in an attempt to get away. She and Dwayne both gasped at the sudden movement and she froze, looking from one to the other slowly.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Holy fuck, try that again," the dark-haired vampire suggested, even though the writer was shaking her head so hard her hair slapped her cheeks.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">Paul nodded and circled his fingertips up both her sides, rippling the digits a little on the way back down. She growled and involuntarily reacted, once again moaning and gasping at the sudden flare of feeling deep inside her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"That's all you gotta do, Jin. Just move yourself like that," Dwayne murmured, grinning at the blush that formed across her chest.</span>
  
  <span class="s1">She nodded in understanding and began to work herself on him, suddenly screaming when Paul's wiggling fingers slipped under her arms. She vaulted forward to get away from his hands, landing hard against Dwayne's chest. Something reached a near nuclear point inside her and she shuddered, gasping as she tried to steady herself.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"What the hell are you trying to do, kill us?!" Dwayne gasped, his own voice barely able to form words.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Sorry, just trying to help," Paul chuckled, unable to hide his smirk. Jinny's face was buried against Dwayne's neck and she panted, trying to subdue the heat and the irritation dueling in her.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No. Tickling!" she snarled, hands fumbling to right herself again.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No kidding, I'd like to last for a while," Dwayne agreed, shuddering as he ran a hand down her back. "You can stay down here, you know," he teased softly into her hair.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"I don't want to claw you up," Jinny reasoned, unable to add that she wasn't sure she could stand being that close to him without burning up or feeling some sort of misplaced anxiety. She wouldn't admit that he intimidated the hell out of her, not while he was buried in her to the hilt.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We can fix that. Can you hold her, bro?" Paul asked as his hands came around her waist, gently lifting her so she was still within range of Dwayne's hands and mouth but not smushed up against him.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"No problem," his friend agreed, easily holding her at that angle by her waist.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"Cool. Now we'll just do this..." Paul went on, slowly gathering both of her wrists and holding them in place behind her back.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"You've got to be kidding - fuck!" she gasped when Dwayne's hips thrust up against hers, his hands slowly guiding her own movements until they found a rhythm. She was suspended so close from Dwayne's face and torso that she had to look only at him, though she could feel Paul's mouth trailing over each shoulder blade and down her spine until she was rocking back and forth between them, desperate to catch every bit of feeling both offered her. She</span>
  
  <span class="s1">shivered hard when Paul's free hand curled around her waist and Dwayne's hand to rest on that spot just below her waist, softly circling there. It wasn't enough to drive her out of her mind, but sure enough to make her squirm and wiggle on his friend's cock. Dwayne groaned and leaned up, catching the tip of one breast in his mouth, sucking it deep into his mouth.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">His cock never left her body, but rubbed firmly inside her</span>
  
  <span class="s1">as she rode him, her movements increasing when Paul's hand slid lower to fondle her clit. Her groan was muffled by Dwayne's mouth covering hers and she experienced a brief moment of vertigo when her hands were released and she was flipped onto her back. She expected him to let loose and finish them both off, but Dwayne retained his slow, leisurely pace as his tongue probed at different points in her mouth, though his hands easily pinned her wrists on either side of her head. She felt herself heading towards a steady, impending climax, his mouth suddenly under her ear, sucking and teasing the skin there as his body slid over hers. “Oh God,” she breathed, head tilting back as he rocked into her with a constant, steady pace.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Feel so good, Jin. Fuck, Paul was right. You’re heaven,” Dwayne groaned, and reached to lift one leg over his hip, circling his pelvis into hers. “Just think, all the time you were attacking me I could’ve been right here, instead,” he teased, and gave a few sharp thrusts for emphasis.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">She gasped when she came sooner than expected, clamping on him hard as she groaned against him. “That’s it, Jin, let go,” he urged, pace increasing as he worked her through her orgasm, his rough fingertips on her clit sending her higher. She bottomed out in a long, keening cry. Dwayne's face clenched before he suddenly filled her with a groan, prompting her to grab at him before remembering herself and taking her aggression out on the sheets, instead, twisting them as the final ripples of orgasm washed through her.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Jinny was incredibly aware of how empty she was when he pulled out, of the combined stickiness on her thighs, but to her surprise Dwayne stayed in the bed, watching her with a slow, almost feline smile of satisfaction. Paul chuckled and left the bed for a moment, before returning with a package of wipes. “This’ll have to work for the moment. I’m too damn tired to move more,” he groaned and stretched out on her other side. She reached for the container but he held it over her head with a look, then offered it to Dwayne before tugging out a sheet of his own. “Nope. We told you, you’re ours. We do the work now,” he reminded, and she blinked as they gently helped her clean up. </span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1"><em>I thought that was just heat of the moment talk, </em>she thought, but was too worn out to think over the implications. “I can do it,” she complained, twitching when rogue fingertip or two would occasionally catch a few drops of come as it leaked out and sneakily slipped it back inside or massaged it into her clit and she was suddenly extremely thankful for the whole vampire sterility thing.</span>
</p><p class="p1">
  
</p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">“Nope, not gonna happen,” Dwayne yawned, and she was aware of a coverlet being pulled over them.</span>
  
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">Paul leaned over and kissed her cheek gently, a gesture repeated by Dwayne. Jinny was exhausted yet entirely confused by this after-sex treatment. She wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but being carefully snuggled up between two broad chests was not it. "We're not leaving you, babe," Paul insisted, curling up against her with a sated sigh. "But you are ours," he added, his voice leaving absolutely no room for argument.</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="s1">"We're not kidding, Jin. You’re ours. Promise," Dwayne added. She was already half-asleep and not looking at him, she knew he was watching her carefully. "Promise that you're ours."</span>
</p><p class="p3"> </p><p class="p1">
  <span class="apple-tab-span"><em>Whatever. Maybe they have some weird pillow talk thing. </em>She couldn’t deny how <em>right </em>the phrase sounded, how good it felt, though. It was like something had slid into place after being with them, though it was probably just the result of so many orgasms. </span>
  <span class="s1">"Promise," she yawned, relaxing into the space between the two vampires, finding it odd that it was so easy to say such a thing, even as post-sex affirmation. "I’m yours." She didn't know how all the lights were suddenly extinguished in the room, but was very happy that she could get a decent amount of sleep for once.</span>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0034"><h2>34. Evening After</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marko digs into David's motivations and Dwayne struggles to deal with new emotions.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks so much for all the lovely, lovely kudos and comments! I'm catching up with people still, so enjoy this next bit! We're back to plot, but here's some nice character development for ya.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>David raised an eyebrow as Marko finally reappeared after sundown the next night. The youngest of the boys made a good show of grumbling as he hauled in piles of bags and boxes. “Little bit overkill, don’t you think?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’d rather not have to make a billion trips for a week, thanks. Easier to sleep at Max’s last night and finish up once the sun went down than go back and forth,” he replied and dug for a cigarette. Despite his complaints, he had clearly taken the assignment to heart. Whether that was because he cared that much about cave harmony or he just didn't want to be around in fear of the third apocalypse...well, either was likely.</p><p> </p><p>"Nice work, Marko," David told him when the last of the parcels was set out of the way on the cave floor. "Don't know where they're going to put all that stuff. We'll have to make use of one of the tunnels or back caverns or something," he mused.</p><p> </p><p>"That's their problem as far as I'm concerned, though it wouldn’t hurt to make up a separate space for her, if only for extra privacy and the storage space,” the youngest pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>The platinum blond shrugged. “I’m not giving her an excuse to hide from them at this point.”</p><p> </p><p>Marko gave him a skeptical look, but kept his doubts of that decision to himself. “Well, whatever happens, they'd better take whatever arrangement they've agreed to seriously because I'm sure as hell not getting rid of any of this shit otherwise," he grunted, dropping himself onto the edge of the fountain and smirking at David. "Long night?"</p><p> </p><p>David snorted and lifted the joint he had already started working on. "Long enough. They seem to be making a go of it, though."</p><p> </p><p>Marko raised an eyebrow at David's pleased expression and shook his head, not quite wanting to ask what kind of a soundtrack he’d missed out on that night. Theoretically the cave was big enough to absorb most of that kind of noise, but he also knew from experience that Paul could be vocal as hell, and Jinny was wound tight on a good day. "How the hell do you figure that?"</p><p> </p><p>"Well, she's not running around half naked with them chasing after her, so I figure that's progress," David shot back. "Fuck, after her pulling that marathon last night I was ready to board them all up in Paul's room and give them as long as it took or till they started starving to death."</p><p> </p><p>"So they actually calmed her down then?" Marko asked, smirking slightly.</p><p> </p><p>"Well there's not a ton of places she can really run to, and none of us would let her go to any of the harder to reach areas, anyway. And yeah, they calmed her down. For the moment," the lead vampire snorted. "I'm sure the next few weeks are going to prove most interesting. Just what we needed in unlife, another woman in the cave."</p><p> </p><p>Marko stared at David, unable to reign in his tongue, but the thought had been needling him ever since they’d sent Paul in to pose as Michael. "So why do it then, D? Why not just kill her if you know she's not a threat and not going to give us a leg up?"</p><p> </p><p>"I have my reasons," David replied and took a long toke, his eyes studying his friend closely. Marko frowned and tried to decide if he was really going to voice what was on his mind. "You want to know why after Becky. After Star." Marko sat a little straighter, for once the line of his mouth completely serious.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah. Like Jinny is sweet. A little anxious, but nice enough. So if you don’t think things will work, especially after everything else, why set ourselves up for more problems?" He suppressed a sigh and shook his head. Becky had started out as a game, and like idiots they had continued it too long. There never really had been much feeling there, save that sometimes it was a nice change of company. She’d been kept around because it was fun to play with her and it was a change of pace from the quick hookups where they killed a victim outright. In some ways she reminded Marko of the girls he had dated before he was turned, so it was a pleasant attempt to revisit memory lane, though the first time he’d dated a girl like Becky he also hadn't fucked her in front of his friends or intended to kill her afterwards.  </p><p> </p><p>Star they had just plain felt sorry for, misinterpreted her as another kindred wild spirit. Well, he knew he had, and he knew Paul and Dwayne felt pretty much the same way. She had been interested in David, but he hadn't really shared any of that interest. <em>I’d be surprised if I ever see him fall for anyone for any amount of time, </em>he thought. The pack leader had been more of a caretaker than anything else, and when Star had refused to make her first kill she’d become a damn useful lure. The ideal in that situation was for her to either kill Michael and finally take the plunge, or for him to give in to his urges and kill her off, taking her place in the club and ridding them of her. It was a fast lesson that even with the benefits that they had, unlife was still a lot like the Stones' song. They sure didn't get anything they wanted, but eventually they’d gotten what they had needed.</p><p>           </p><p>"It wasn't that they reminded us of anyone...family members, past flings..." David murmured, the joint poised in his fingers as his eyes looked off towards the stairway into the cave, though it was obvious his mind was somewhere else. "I've been around long enough to get that living in the moment is great, but it's not what we're going to be about forever." He gave a wan smile at Marko's questioning face. "I may be eternally young but I don't want to be Peter Pan anymore. There's a point when he's fun and a point when he acts like a complete dick. Besides, staying in that mindset nearly cost us once. It probably nearly cost us again with Becky. Let’s face it, we’ve gotten lucky everyone took her death at face value. We have to keep wary, keep changing, even if we don't need to take a job or have kids or whatever. After living a long time, we still mentally mature and have need for other things."</p><p> </p><p>Marko had been listening, though his eyes were focused on the stonework of the fountain, a fingertip slowly tracing through the dust and cracks. "Man. I've never heard you talk like that," he replied, tilting his head skeptically. "What the hell is in that weed?"</p><p> </p><p>David chuckled. "I wasn't sure about her at first. At first, it really was about making use of her or getting rid of her, tactics and keeping our asses covered. The more I watched her reactions, the more I kept an eye on Dwayne and Paul, I began to wonder. There are definitely issues there with her, and fuck knows the two of them have their own issues, and who knows if it'll really work...I almost hope it does. She shows potential in a way the others didn’t," he admitted. "And she probably reminds me a little of my kid sister." The younger vampire nearly sucked his cigarette into his mouth. David <em>never</em>talked about his past life or his family. And it seemed that that was all he was going to admit to by the way he continued on. </p><p> </p><p>"But the more I thought on it, the weirder it got. Why would she just randomly get sucked here if that's never happened to anyone else in her world? She said as much herself. It's sure as hell never happened here as far as anything I’ve ever heard. I dunno, Dwayne's the philosophical one. Paul would probably have his own wild theory," he snickered. "But maybe it was just the universe taking care of shit. Maybe they were ready for someone like her to come along and wouldn't have paid attention if it had been anyone round here. Maybe she needed them. Maybe I've really smoked too much of this," he laughed, handing the joint off to Marko, who flicked his cigarette away in favor of it. If it could get David to start opening up then it had to be good shit.  "The short and the long is I don't really know. I know that they've got some sort of bond. I'm not sure how it works or how or why it happened.”</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck, they’re <em>mated</em>?” the youngest breathed, coughing. He’d heard of the concept, Max had sworn up and down it was a legit thing, but it was rare enough that he’d never felt any sort of pull or known anyone who had.</p><p> </p><p>“Seems to be the case. It’s the only real explanation for how they’ve been acting and some of the shit that’s gone on. Pack leader or not, I’m not going to destroy whatever’s going on there and have Paul or Dwayne go crazy on me or have something worse turn up. My luck we would get some crazy bitch intent on making us spit hearts and flowers," he muttered, smirking at Marko's slightly frightened expression. "You'll have to ask Paul on that one."</p><p> </p><p>"You really think this'll work?" he asked, tucking his knees up against his chest. </p><p> </p><p>David grimaced slightly, finally shrugged. "No clue. I know she'll piss me off, I know she's still scared shitless. I know one or both of them are going to do something stupid while they try to figure out how to actually be what she needs, and she’ll probably cause drama trying to get used to the concept. We're gonna have to keep an eye on her for a good long time, really make her understand that we're not just the preconceptions she has in her head. And we’ll make her understand all the weird things we do," he added. “This is different than just turning someone and hoping it takes.”</p><p> </p><p>“So you’re not turning her?”</p><p> </p><p>“Not yet. Way too soon. At the end of the day there’s probably no choice but to, but she’s had enough thrown at her right now. This time, we ease her into cave life and how we are. We make her realize she’s part of this first and see how that goes. Then we’ll see about the blood.” David sighed. “It’s such a fucking pain. We can’t wait <em>too </em>long, but she already knows what we are and what that involves. Better to get her used to our actual personalities right now and then nudge her along.”</p><p> </p><p>“You almost sound like Max,” Marko remarked.</p><p> </p><p>“Watch your fucking mouth,” David grimaced. “Unfortunately, we have to be smart this time. This isn’t someone we can haze and kill off if it doesn’t take. We’ve got to find a way to make it work or risk breaking up the family. I never would have believed it at first, but who knows? I really don't think it's a matter of going soft, but like...recognizing possibilities we deliberately flicked off before. Maybe us bloodsuckers have souls after all. Though I don't like to think about it," he added with a sly smile. </p><p> </p><p>Marko chuckled slightly. "I'm just glad it's them and not me, man. You guys have been at this longer than I have. I'd like to have a lot more fun before I end up facing the wrong end of a commitment."</p><p> </p><p>"I'm with you there. Give me a fast bike and a good kill any day of the week," David readily admitted. "Scares me to think of how people must see us in her world. I don't know when writing turned into a fictional character dating service, but shit," he mused, shuddering.</p><p> </p><p>Marko smirked. "You'll have to ask her. She could probably paraphrase a few things she's read about you."</p><p> </p><p>"And I'd have nightmares for years of making sweet love to some emotionally distraught yet physically perfect piece of jailbait, I'm sure. That's quite alright. Never going to happen unless slicing a jugular is considered pillow talk," David snorted.  </p><p> </p><p>Marko smirked. For all of David's intellect and age-induced wisdom, he was still the same David he had met what felt like forever ago. It was more than a small blessing that Jinny hadn't developed some thing for him; she would never have lasted as long. That thought brought a slight frown to his full mouth. "You think it’ll work out?"</p><p> </p><p>David cringed. "Right now? No clue. We’ll just have to do our best." He smirked "Between her and the boys trying to decide if they're getting their souls sucked out or not...well, we never did have cable and now we won't need it," he laughed.</p><p> </p><p>**********</p><p>Dwayne moved quietly when he slid out of the bed, deliberately checking all his movements so as not to wake his packmate or lover. Jinny, he wasn't too worried about, but Paul had the tendency to hear the smallest noise and go from zero to a hundred in half a second. Despite the dark, he could easily see the two bodies curled under the covers and managed a half-smile that grew the more he remembered the events from the evening before. She had definitely surprised the both of them.</p><p> </p><p>The more he stared at the way Paul had practically wrapped around her he also began to remember how even through her exhaustion she’d taken care to leave enough space between herself and him. His smile faded slightly as he glanced back around Paul's room. <em>It’ll be worth it but it’s going to be a lot of work. </em> It took him a few minutes of patiently scanning around the floor of the cave to find where he had tossed his jeans, and his mind worked constantly while he dressed. She was attracted to him, sure. While they didn't know too much about her history or likes and dislikes yet, he would admit to being drawn to her. It went beyond sex and how amusing she was when she was frustrated. There was something about her that made him eager to protect her, that made him want nothing more than to hole up with her and figure out everything about her. The pull was always there, but that didn’t mean things would be instantly perfect. She definitely took to his calming influence; anyone with clear vision could see she needed that to keep her from shooting off every which way. </p><p> </p><p>It was said humans didn't mark vampires and a true mating bond was rare, he trusted that his instincts were right. It couldn't be anything else, and in theory a pull that strong could have brought her to them from anywhere, even from some different universe or whatever they could call it. But still. The way she had behaved with him the night before made him wonder not only if any of them were really ready for what they were attempting. The fact that she’d been so scared of biting bothered him. The vampire in him wanted nothing more than to mark its territory, claim his mate so she knew without a doubt who she was with. Paul would hold back, it would be bad form for one to do that kind of claim without the other, but it still rankled. She needed to see that she was <em>theirs</em>, dammit, especially if she was going to be stepping out with them each night. Other vampires and creatures of the night didn’t come around often, but he’d be damned if he’d let her out of the cave before she bore their marks.</p><p> </p><p>He also wasn't quite sure if he was ready to admit deep down just how disconcerting it was to have her <em>not</em>take to him right away. Sex had come fairly easily after he’d been turned and it was rare he was at a loss for a partner if he really wanted one. It was more typical that he’d keep to himself and turn offers down, unless he was in a bad way. Even then, it was just as likely for him to just go for the jugular as it was bother with a seduction. To have her show up and catch his interest and keep his interest and then <em>not</em>fall into his arms…that was jarring. Vampires didn't get hurt by trivial things like that. He'd wait and she'd see reason, or he'd slowly make her see. </p><p> </p><p>He glanced over at the bed again and caught the sigh before it was too late. It was weird that Paul had been the one to threaten her life, yet she had taken to him easily, effortlessly. He always had been the charmer of the group. Though knowing her analytical nature, she'd start second-guessing everything the moment she woke up. <em>I’m not used to putting in this kind of effort anymore.</em>If his looks didn't do it, if the bike didn't do it, then a little tug of suggestion and a few well-placed phrases and examples of all he could do certainly did. Then again, that was usually all the work he <em>had</em>to put into a relationship. He was great at the cat and mouse game, but keeping a woman until he was ready to feed was a new concept, especially when she was as suspicious and tense and nuanced as Jinny. Truth be told, Paul had to work harder most of the time. He was good at suggestion in his own right, but his mannerisms and loud mouth usually counteracted it. In theory, any of them could take what they wanted, but that had never been appealing. For hunting and feeding, sure, but for play and any other reason? It just wasn’t worth it. </p><p> </p><p>He was smart enough to realize that it wasn't exactly jealousy towards his friend that he felt. That would get them nowhere. No, it was more like a longing for that same closeness, that intimacy, the want to be included. Dwayne frowned, but was careful not to look directly back at the sleeping figures. He hadn't felt that hunger for inclusion so vehemently since he'd met the other boys. Despite their good intentions with Jinny, if this turned into another Becky...Dwayne pursed his lips at that thought, pushed it out of his head and wondered why he did it so fast. They were all so used to living in the moment. Sometimes it was an effort to even remember where he had come from, everything he had done and who he had been before he’d been turned. </p><p> </p><p>He knew as well as anyone else that had been around as long as he had that adaptation was a must, but he had never expected to slowly mold to the ideals he had rolled his eyes at for so long. There was still a part of him that was clinging steadfast to all their old perceptions, that wanted nothing more than to jump on the bike and go out and see what sort of trouble he could get into. When it came to the carnage and the racing and all that, well, that was still safe territory, but with women...it was disconcerting to realize that most of him would rather be back in that bed. </p><p> </p><p>Dwayne quickly whisked up his fly and bent to tug the covers back up where they'd slipped down Jinny's bare shoulders, making a slight face at how her hair had scattered up over her cheek again. He had been totally wrong that evening when he had assumed that she wasn't his type. Now he just had to make her see things from his point of view and still keep harmony with Paul.</p><p> </p><p>He moved to brush back the wayward strands off her placid face and tensed as one of his friend's eyes snapped open "Jesus, don't you ever sleep through anything?" he muttered, flicking his eyes up to meet Paul's. </p><p> </p><p>"Never know who's gonna to be skulking bout, dude. You okay? I've never seen you up before me," Paul reasoned, lifting his head slightly, though he was careful not to disturb the sleeping form next to him. It was weird how good they looked together, how natural it seemed for Paulie to be in that bed beside her. He noticed every detail, of course, but pointedly said nothing.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, but I've gotta hunt. Last night took a lot out of me," Dwayne explained with a shrug.</p><p> </p><p>The grin on Paul's face was in total agreement. "No kidding. Who would've thought she'd be that fun. You're right though, you need to feed. She doesn't need to see either of us on the prowl yet," Paul agreed, and whether his reasoning was due to the carnage or other reasons, Dwayne wasn't quite sure. But Paul was right.</p><p> </p><p>If she saw them tear someone apart now, even for food, or saw them go after something in a skirt and assumed the worst...maybe rightfully so... <em>No, it’s better to keep her at home and entertained until we can explain how things are. </em>Dwayne nodded and again started to push back the hair that had fallen across her face, but paused mid-gesture. "Yeah. Tell you what, why don't you spend a few days with her? She's going to have to get used to both of us as individuals, y’know?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul's face clearly showed his agreement to the proposal. "Works for me." Dwayne nodded and turned to take his leave. "Dwayne. I'm sure she'll warm up to you. That's what you're all broody about, right?"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne paused but didn't answer, though his jaw tightened at how damn perceptive Paul could be at unneeded times. </p><p> </p><p>"Just give it time, bro," the blond added. "She wants to like you. It's obvious. She's just a little overwhelmed, is all."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne's eyes flickered closed in a brief gesture of tested patience. "Yeah, sure. I'll be back later," he called. He started to head to the main cavern after scooping up his jacket, but one last glance to the girl in the bed made him detour to his room.</p><p> </p><p>*************</p><p>David and Marko were already up and were lounging about, either discussing plans for the evening, or things that involved the current status of life in the cave, judging by how much they were snickering by the time they saw him. Both looked genuinely surprised that he was up so early. And it wasn’t the only surprise of the evening.</p><p> </p><p>"Holy shit. Did she kick you out of bed or are you just in that good of a mood?" Marko cracked, holding out the joint he and David had been passing. “And are you wearing a <em>shirt</em>? When the hell do you wear shirts? I didn’t even know you owned a shirt!” he cackled.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne rolled his eyes and slid his jacket over the tight grey t-shirt. “I own plenty, I just rarely feel like wearin’ ‘em.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well she wouldn’t have marked you up where you couldn't heal from it, so either you’re suddenly shy or she’s whipped you good,” the youngest snickered.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't give him that, he'll start waxing poetic," David chuckled, smirking at Marko's snort of laughter. "Besides, he must be happy to be up so early. I never thought I'd be there to see a day when he was perky enough to not sleep in and started wearing clothes.” David shared Marko's shit-eating grin at Dwayne's eyeroll. "I should've known you'd both go for a screamer." David stared innocently at his gloved hand as he made the remark, though his grin broadened as soon as he looked up and saw his brother’s startled look.</p><p> </p><p>If the dark-haired vampire had recently fed he probably would have blushed. Usually prowess of that sort was something to laugh and jeer about, but for some reason this was different. "I didn't think we were that loud," he admitted. "Didn't think the sound would carry so well through all the tunnels.”</p><p> </p><p>Marko cast Dwayne a pitying look and cut off David's reply. "You weren't and it didn't, he's just trying to bait you."</p><p> </p><p>"What, I have to be sure that everything went smoothly after she spent half the night trying to run off! And I'm not about to stoop to listening in," he added, shuddering as he motioned for the neglected joint in Dwayne's hand. The dark-haired vampire took a quick toke and handed it over, causing David to take a good long look at him.</p><p> </p><p>Marko watched the exchange, but said nothing. It was obvious his friend had gotten some and that the chick hadn't been a bad lay, but this was quite a different, much more restrained post-coital Dwayne than they were used to seeing. Then again, this was the first time he wasn't covered with blood or talked about his plans for his partner's death after their next round of sex. Quiet as he was, he was all for jumping in with the details when things were especially good, but he clearly wasn't offering up anything on their new acquisition or whatever the hell she was. </p><p> </p><p>The youngest still wasn't quite sure how to view Jinny's presence. David had his reasons for the good of the pack, and Marko agreed that having her with them was better than leaving her to her own devices. He really couldn't complain with any of the leader's reasoning for giving her over to the other two. Who the hell could actually fight a mating bond? That would be catastrophic to try to ignore. He was still amazed that they hadn't all killed each other during her first night in the cave. They either had really worn her out, seduced the hell out of her, or plain tied her up. But why David was so sure that everything would work out was a big fat mystery. He sure as hell wasn't stupid enough to over-question the pack leader more than he already had or do anything to piss off the new lovers. He liked a good day's sleep without having holy water poured down his shorts.  Marko glanced up at his friend, trying to still his curiosity for the time-being "I got all you asked for, by the way."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne nodded. "Cool, Paul'll find it when he wakes up. We going out or what?" he asked as he jumped up and headed to the stairs. "What?" he asked when neither of his friends moved to follow him and opted to stare at him like he had lost his mind.</p><p> </p><p>"Far be it from me to question your motives," David worded slowly, "but you like her, right?"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne blinked, and there was just the slightest bit of a delay that proved that the ignorance was a complete act. Yep, Dwayne had certainly missed his calling. If he could find a director who'd work him nights only, David was sure that his friend could've swept the Academy Awards by now.  "Of course I like her. I need to feed. I'm starving." He even went so far as to put on a sly smile. "Worked up a hell of an appetite last night."</p><p> </p><p>Marko glanced to David and had to cover his mouth smoothly with a gloved hand to prevent the baffled frown from showing. David was better at covering his emotions but even he couldn't stop his eyebrows from raising.</p><p> </p><p>"And yet you're walking out for a night on the town after your first night with someone you claim to like. Though that explains the shirt, at least," David sighed and shook his head as he got up. "I know you're out of practice and all, but if you want to get lucky a second time, that's not exactly the type of behavior that's gonna get you in her good graces." </p><p> </p><p>Dwayne rolled his eyes. "Paul's with her, she'll be fine." The look that his two friends shared between him didn't escape his notice. "What?" he growled in a tone that shouldn't have been that testy after the activities of the night before.</p><p> </p><p>It was Marko that helped him out this time. "Either you're playing the martyr, changed your mind-"</p><p> </p><p>"Hell no!” </p><p> </p><p>"Then why not be there when she wakes up? Not only does that offer the possibilities for seconds, but it's kind of what you do when you don't kill off your dates," Marko pointed out. </p><p> </p><p>"If you must know, Paul and I thought that she should get in some time with each of us separately. She won't feel ganged up on, and she should know us for more than just a fun time," he shot back. "He's going to take his few days first, and since I really doubt she'd be up to any more play for a while after last night, I'm going to get something to eat because I'm fucking hungry!" The words sounded casual but his glare was scathing. </p><p> </p><p>"Well...it makes sense, but something else is going on," David murmured, crossing his arms over his chest as he stared at his friend. "And you have your moments but I can't see you getting jealous of Paulie."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne sighed and turned from where he had started to take his leave. "That's not it at all." He waited, judging the others' reaction. "She's scared of me. I thought I could calm her down, but even when she was having a good time she couldn't hide how frightened she was."</p><p> </p><p>"It's gonna take time," Marko pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, but then why is it so much easier for Paul? He flat out tried to kill her and he didn't seem to have a problem!" Dwayne snapped, sighing as he ran a hand through his hair. "This shouldn't bother me," he muttered.</p><p> </p><p>"Well if you like her as much as you say you do, it sure as hell should," David shot back, impatience flickering in his face. "Look, I wouldn't have kept her alive and let her in here if I didn't believe she wanted it. Yeah, it's going to take a shitload of work, but you usually don't mind that. I didn't say it wouldn't be hard or painful. Besides, you'll have time to connect with her when you get some one on one time," he added, patting his friend on the shoulder. "But you are going to have to let her in. What works for a flat-out fuck won't work for her. You're going to have to open up a little, and she'll calm down. I know you've got it in you, just show her even a little of what you finally showed to us and she'll accept you. Now come on, we have a whole night ahead of us and I'm not going to waste it playing counsellor or waiting to see what state of undress Paul is in when he wakes up," David muttered as he stalked towards the exit. </p><p> </p><p>Marko smirked at Dwayne's slightly shell-shocked face. Though he was older, he sure as hell wasn't used to being up and dealing with real issues first thing after sunset. "Don't worry, man. It'll work out."</p><p> </p><p>"Uh-huh," Dwayne muttered as they followed David out of the cave. "You ever notice how the one giving the advice is never the one that has to deal with shit like this?" </p><p> </p><p>"Because I'm smart enough not to get involved!" David called from the top of the stairs, smirking at their eye rolls. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0035"><h2>35. Acclimating</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny wakes up with Paul and the boys hit the Boardwalk as Dwayne struggles to deal with his baser instincts and new feelings.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jinny woke in stages, the baser parts of her body coming online before her brain pushed itself out of its haze to take a quick inventory of the situation. For starters, she was still alive. That was a fact that both relieved and baffled her. They had gotten what they had wanted: her submission, her confession, her surrender, and a truckload of sex. There should have been no reason for them to keep her alive afterwards, unless they were serious. Somehow that sudden thought sat heavier in her mind than her constant fear of death at their hands.</p><p> </p><p>She forced herself to stop thinking so she could focus on the activity around her on the bed. There was someone behind her, though whichever vampire it was had thankfully moved off of her. It seemed like the other one had taken momentary leave, or was standing guard, or a thousand other possibilities. And she had no idea how close to sunset it actually was, or how she'd even begin to find her way out of the complex tunnel system to the main cavern. </p><p> </p><p>As far as she was concerned, the details were trivial compared to the opportunity laid out for her. She hadn't even opened her eyes and had only begun to roll towards the edge of the bed when a leg flung over her hip. She gave a petulant groan as equally insistent arms tugged her even deeper into the nest of covers. There was a soft click and she winced against the bright florescent glow of an electric camping lantern. <em>Great, not only am I trapped, but now I’m blind, to boot. </em></p><p> </p><p>"Can't tell me you're still fixing to run," Paul chided, his voice slightly raspy. She shrugged but leaned back into him as his hands rubbed up and down her arms. "I can't imagine you wanting to walk that far, anyway," he quipped. She was sore, yet she would've dealt with it at that point. She kept quiet, uncertain how to reply. She hadn't really expected to wake up at all, much less with Paul still in bed with her. </p><p> </p><p>Jinny felt stiff in his arms, not a right fit for whatever cozy feeling he had been going for. She was beginning to wonder when he'd give up at her lack of a reaction when the scritch of his cheek against hers pulled her out of her thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>"Mornin'," he purred, undaunted by her silence or stillness. "Or evenin', whichever," he chuckled. He was so ridiculously nonchalant she couldn't help but smile just a little. His mouth ghosted over the top of her shoulder and she jumped a little before she remembered that it was Paul.</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>Why should that make a difference? You can’t trust him, not after all the evidence against him. It doesn’t matter what weird soft spots you have, he’s still just as lethal as the others.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>"If it makes ya feel better, I could kick you out of bed and laugh about it, but I'm pretty comfy like this," he interjected and she could feel the satisfied smirk when she rolled her eyes. That telepathy was going to get obnoxious really fast. "Sleep well?" he murmured, the barest tips of his fingers smoothing down her arm to her hand. </p><p> </p><p>"I guess," she admitted, though in truth her sleep had been hard and heavy, the closest thing to death that she could apparently reach.</p><p> </p><p>"I was worried you wouldn't get there on your first night," he went on lazily, his fingers curling between hers.</p><p> </p><p>"Pretty hard not to after certain parties banged the tar out of me," she countered, though the fact that she was curled pleasantly against one of those certain parties made the sting of her words useless. It also made her wonder just what was on the schedule for that evening. It was probably a bad start, but it was better to know where both were at instead of feeling safe with her ignorance. "Where's Dwayne?"</p><p> </p><p>"We decided you needed time with each of us alone so you don't feel completely overwhelmed. We'll spend a few nights together and then you'll go to him. After that, it just depends on what’s going on."</p><p> </p><p>She made a face and narrowed her eyes, simmering under the bedclothes. "I'm not sure I like being passed around like a joint till I'm all spent up," she muttered. Paul tugged on a length of her hair and she tried to elbow him. He saw it coming and caught her arm.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, it's a lot to take in all at once. Last night proved you're willing and able, but we won't put you through that every night. Besides, don't you think we want our own time alone with you besides just sex?" She blinked dumbly, never having expected something to that effect to ever leave his mouth. Either he was a damn good manipulator or he had gone completely crazy. "What? Even I have my moments," he snickered. </p><p> </p><p>Jinny sighed. "I really don't get any of you." It was a whine and she knew it, but under the circumstances it seemed like a well-placed whine. "You're not at all what I thought you'd be like."</p><p> </p><p>Paul's hand stilled on her arm. "Better when we were just characters on a page, huh?" He was trying to be flippant, but she caught the dark tinge to his voice, the frustration, the slight fear that surprised her.</p><p> </p><p>"No. I didn't say that," she replied, taking time to choose the right words. "I...I like characters because there's that sense of control, but...even when you were just words on a page you had your own quirks, personalities. It was never just about trying to make you do what I want," she admitted. "Besides, you're a hell of a lot more fun that most real people I've known," she added, smiling in relief when the line of his body curled back against hers.</p><p> </p><p>"Is that so?" he drawled, and she watched as he tugged the covers a little higher around them. She had been ready to do anything to get out of that bed five minutes ago and now she found herself thinking about how oddly complex Paul was. He was dangerous, loud, obnoxious, but also oddly sweet and attentive when he felt like it. She couldn't quite decide if it was an act or not, but it was enough to make her pay attention and not panic every time he shifted his weight. "Can I ask you somethin'?"</p><p> </p><p>She blinked, amazed that they were actually talking instead of her being bent into some odd position. "Um, yeah. Sure."</p><p> </p><p>"I'm just curious, so don't flip out on me," he went on. "But what's the fixation with writing about us? Or the porn. I mean I know I'm hard to resist," he admitted and she snorted.  "But it's not something I would've thought of doing." </p><p> </p><p>She smiled slightly and nodded. "Yeah, okay, that’s fair. Maybe a long time ago I would've taken offense, but I know what you mean. It's complicated. I wrote original stories, too. I was published in some small places off and on and working on a few books, but...I don't know, I was always so scared I'd never be able to really get people behind my work. Writing fanfiction was easier because there’s a built-in audience, or maybe that was my copout. It’s hard to market and get stuff out there if it’s not based on something and you don’t have a lot of money or a name behind it. It’s easy to burn out, so fic kind of became a way to enjoy writing again while I worked on other stuff. Some movies really did intrigue me though, draw me in," she admitted, frowning as she tried to explain, her fingertips idly tugging the fabric of the blanket draped over her. "The movie you’re in…it shows just enough to pique interest. You see how you guys live, how you hunt, that kind of thing, but at the end of the day it’s about the humans. I just never bought that you were all evil for evil’s sake, and it got me wondering about the ins and outs of how you’d survive, what you’d do on the daily, that sort of thing. As for the porn…I mean I came from a typical nicey nice family and women aren’t really expected to get into that sort of thing,” she shrugged.</p><p> </p><p>“Fuck the patriarchy,” Paul agreed. Jinny choked and stared at him, incredulous. He shrugged. “What?”</p><p> </p><p>“Paul, you’re kind of the epitome of the patriarchy,” she snorted.</p><p> </p><p>He shifted to lean up on an arm, ready to argue the point. “Nuh-uh! Like sure, I like what I like and I may run my mouth, but it’s totally not cool that dudes can go out and do whatever and whoever and it be seen as a feature and girls get trashed for even thinking about sex the wrong way. It sucks. I don’t care that you’re into shit, it just feels odd to have someone thinking that much about writing me doing it.”</p><p> </p><p>She nodded, slightly shell-shocked she was even having that conversation and having it with <em>Paul.</em>“Okay, I get your point. I’ve always had mixed feelings about fic, because it does feel kind of self-serving and I was raised to really be aware of being too selfish or self-oriented. Plus, you have to take into account that these aren’t my characters, and there’s a creepy real-world component when you factor in that you’re basically writing about fantasizing over someone’s performance in a movie, someone who’s a real person and making their living playing a character that now everyone wants to bang because they’re good looking. So I’ve always had a bit of guilt there, too, but it was easier to play in other worlds first and then slide into my own stuff.”</p><p> </p><p>She sighed and struggled to get her thoughts straight. “I think in some ways it was kind of a rite of passage, I was obviously a little repressed growing up, so it was this secret thing that felt safer than surfing for outright porn or whatever. And after reading it for a while, you know, it just felt natural to try it. Those sorts of situations I could control in a way I couldn’t control my actual dating life or whatever,” she sighed, embarrassed to admit the shortcoming. “At first it was just the thrill of writing intimate things. I mean I wasn't exactly getting it in real life so it seemed kind of illicit in a fun way," she went on, ducking her head at Paul's chuckle. "I was brave enough to write it, just not do it...and there wasn't anyone around who really caught my interest. I guess in some ways it’s a little like you guys feeling empowered by being vampires – there’s a power there that you don’t get in regular life.”</p><p> </p><p>She paused to reframe her thoughts. “But the more I matured, the more it became less about just the fucking and more about trying to match the actions to the personalities, to learn to develop circumstances and tension, to really figure the characters out and not just make them do what I thought was funny or hot or exciting. Sometimes my moods would influence things. That's why some of my stories about you guys are so much darker than they really needed to be. I don't know, at certain points in my life I wasn't exactly a tra la la person and that was my coping mechanism," she sighed. “It was a way to get out all the aggression and anger and passion and heat that I felt, but couldn’t do anything about.” </p><p> </p><p>"Maybe that's why this scares me so much. I never thought of any part of the movie as being anything that could ever accept me. It was so different, so much cooler than anything I'd ever been a part of, and then suddenly I was stuck in it all. I’m not the best writer out there, even in fandom, and it was always hard for me to get along with a lot of others in those circles anyway. I was either older or younger or saw things differently or didn’t know the in jokes or just came along at the wrong time, or whatever. So it felt completely wrong that it should be me here in Santa Carla as it was, and because I was trying so hard to get all the vampire aspects right and not make the mistakes of some of the things I'd seen in other stories and gave in to my own darker nature while writing some of that, that's all I could really think of when you were all suddenly there," she sighed, wanting nothing more than to burrow down under the covers and stay there forever.</p><p> </p><p>To her growing amazement Paul didn't laugh or make some smart remark. Instead, he tugged her closer, one of his legs draping over her own. "Well you didn't exactly meet us in a tender moment," he pointed out. "And to be fair, we <em>aren’t</em>nice guys. I mean, we can be," he corrected, prompting her to tilt her head back so she could just barely see his thoughtful frown. "But it's not what we're about twenty-four/seven. We just kind of..."</p><p> </p><p>"You let it hang out, do what you want without all the human rules and bullshit," she finished. "It's tempting to think of, but it's terrifying when you realize that's your opposition."</p><p> </p><p>"I dunno, you did a damn good job of keeping us on our toes," Paul chuckled. "You just have to remember...well, you got a lot of things right. I kinda wonder if instead of you writing us and it happening, maybe certain moments just synced up between universes, so we both happened to catch onto the same idea.” She blinked, had never thought of it like that, but she supposed anything was possible. “I mean we're vampires, we like to have fun, we don't really worry about most shit, we live in the moment and don’t really have to worry about the future as long as we keep an eye out for certain things…but that's not all we are. We all have our own weird personalities and stuff. And we're not completely evil, we just have a lot more freedom on the right and wrong path, or something." His lip twitched when he finally noticed that she was nearly snapping her neck trying to gauge his reaction and he quickly rolled her so that she was facing him. "But you're a part of us now, Jin. I know it'll take a while for you to believe that, but shit, why would we go to all that trouble just to kill you?"</p><p> </p><p>"You're that bored? Or that pissed? I don't know, I'm not a vampire, I obviously don't think the same way you do, whether we happened to sync up on certain trains of thought or not. Besides, why would you want me around if it wasn't for revenge?" she added in a hesitant whisper, dropping her gaze and sinking down into the covers.</p><p> </p><p>She squeaked when Paul followed her down so that they were eye to eye and nearly suffocated by the coverlet. "Babe, in case you didn't notice, I kind of like you," he pointed out, hands clamped on her shoulders so she couldn't move away.</p><p> </p><p>"You like fucking me," she retorted and he rolled his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"That's right, I helped take care of you when you were sick, chased you around to make sure you didn't get yourself killed, posed as <em>Michael</em>to make sure you didn't run off and do something you'd regret, shelled out a good chunk of my own cash to get you things so you'd feel at home, and spent hours being patient with you last night just so I could get in your pussy. That's it exactly," he replied, and she flushed at his irritation. "I'll admit that the methods weren't the best, but I meant well."</p><p> </p><p>She chewed her lip and leveled a firm look at him. "Then why did you try to kill me?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul opened his mouth to shoot off some smart retort but paused at her eyes. For once they weren't shielded by anger or self-protection, but actually provided a good view into the heart that lay behind them. She was someone who wanted so badly to believe, but was so terrified of what he could really be up to. Someone who just wanted to know. "Dammit," he sighed heavily. "Just never admit to the guys that I told you this," he warned, sighing again at her raised eyebrow. "I was...well, remember we had no idea if you had powers or shit..."</p><p> </p><p>"But?" Jinny prompted, feeling downright out of her mind when she realized she was actually playing with his hair. Not only was she in bed with her potential murderer, but she was engaged in a really surreal form of pillow talk and playing with his hair.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, I...when I was watching you one night and you were still under forced sleep....damn, you fought it though," he added with a smile. “I got worried that maybe you were trying to make us less of what we were, that you were all about hearts and flowers and because you wrote what you did, maybe you were trying to like magic us or something," he finally said, coming back to himself as the body pressed against him shook slightly. "You're laughing!" he hissed, his eyes widening.</p><p> </p><p>"No, I'm not!" she protested, quickly grabbing a pillow and pressing it over her face.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes you are! I tell you what you wanted to know and youlaugh at me!" he growled, tugging all of the blankets and covers over to his side of the bed.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh come on, stop it. I'm not laughing at you!" she giggled, hurling the pillow at his face. "It's just funny that you'd give me that kind of power. Or credit. Geez, did you even read what I showed you? I mean seriously, do you think I'd right you all ushy-gushy and gooey lovey-dovey?"</p><p> </p><p>The blond paused in his cover hoarding to let his brain catch up with his reactions. "You have a point there. And never talk like that again, that's just creepy," he muttered, shuddering. "And I could be romantic!" he added. The bland look on Jinny's face was thoroughly unconvinced. "Oh come on, you don't know that I couldn’t be a romantic type of guy!"</p><p> </p><p>Her lip twitched but the rest of her behaved. "Paul, I can honestly say that I think the world is completely safe from you coming out with a poetry anthology or cutting an album of songs to listen to while strolling down the beach."</p><p> </p><p>His eyes narrowed. "That sounds like a challenge..."</p><p> </p><p>Somehow, even with her limited interactions with Paul, Jinny knew that that statement would mean nothing but trouble. "Don't. Please. You don't have to prove your sensitivity."</p><p> </p><p>He huffed and piled the stack of blankets on top of himself. "I never said I was sensitive, I said I had the potential to be romantic!"</p><p> </p><p>"Whatever," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "I didn’t get into this expecting to be wooed or whatever.” She gave him a look when he obviously was ready to take that as another challenge. “Don’t. Just don’t, I’ve had enough surreal drama in my life so far. What made you think I'd turn you into some sort of love slave, anyway? I mean, I've been described as cynical, snarky, spikey, irritating, obnoxious, annoying, and weird, but I don't think I'm the type that would ever command you to sweep me off my feet," she muttered. His eyes sparked a little more at that last bit and she wished she had even a hand towel near her to hide under. </p><p> </p><p>"Maybe you need to be..." he murmured, the gears starting to turn.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't!" she warned, fighting the groan. "But seriously, what made you think that?"</p><p> </p><p>He shrugged. "You told me."</p><p> </p><p>The look on her face was pure confusion. "I did? When? Not at the coffee shop. I sure as hell would never have said anything about liking you to Michael."</p><p> </p><p>"Nah, before then, when you were asleep when you were sick. You rolled over and said you loved me. You were dreaming about me or something." He frowned at her blank look. "You don't even remember?!"</p><p> </p><p>"Paul, I was asleep!! It was probably some weird fever dream.” She frowned and thought back, but could only draw a blank. “I really told you I loved you?"</p><p> </p><p>"Well, you said 'love you' and I was in the room," he amended, shrugging. </p><p> </p><p>She blinked. "Then how do you know I meant you?"</p><p> </p><p>He blanched. "Who else would you be talking about? Dwayne wasn't there, I was the one talking to you-"</p><p> </p><p>"I don't know, God only knows what I dream at night half the time. My brain goes off on tangents all the time. I could’ve had an emotional dream about pizza or a family member. Hell, I could have been dreaming about Tom Hiddleston or someone, for all I know," she added sarcastically.</p><p> </p><p>His spine straightened and his eyes narrowed. "Tom Hiddleston?!"</p><p> </p><p>“British actor-”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I know who he is, he exists here,” Paul growled, though by the look on his face she wondered how much longer that would be the case.</p><p> </p><p>A slight blush flowered over her cheeks. "Oh what, he's a very attractive man and he’s always so funny and charming in interviews, and his accent and voice and the way he moves just - don't even think about it," she warned as soon as the face framed by green cloth got a plotting look about it.</p><p> </p><p>"What?" Paul asked from his fort of covers, a little too innocently.</p><p> </p><p>"I don't want to randomly hear that Tom Hiddleston’s been mysteriously murdered because of one stupid comment I made."</p><p> </p><p>"Not even a little accident?" Paul countered.</p><p> </p><p>"No! I'm in bed with you, aren't I!"</p><p> </p><p>"Well for all I know you're really thinking about some British movie star!" the green pile grumbled, huffing at her next reaction. "You're laughing again!"</p><p> </p><p>"I can't help it! You're quality entertainment," she shot back. "And you're cute."</p><p> </p><p>"I am not!" he growled. She would have been intimidated had he not reminded her of a green bush trying to accost her. </p><p> </p><p>She smirked and leaned in, her nerves warring with something else as she pecked a kiss on the tip of his nose. "Yeah, you are. Now give me back the covers, I'm freezing," she muttered, tugging at a section of cloth.</p><p> </p><p>Paul promptly stuck his tongue out at her. "Go tell your British supervillain boyfriend to give you some of his covers," he taunted, growling when she yanked harder.</p><p> </p><p>"Go write poetry! Gimme the damn covers!" she snarled, shrieking when he pounced on her, turning the whole world around them into a sea of emerald green cloth.</p><p> </p><p>****************</p><p>           </p><p>Dwayne was off his bike as soon as they were on the Boardwalk. Marko and David glanced at each other, but said nothing as they killed their engines and moved to catch up to their packmate. He had chilled out some, but he still moved with more aggression than either were used to seeing when he wasn't tearing into someone. They walked towards the carousel, all the while keeping a close eye on who was populating the street ahead of them and who would make a decent meal. Dwayne didn't say a word but kept walking, even when the others hung back.</p><p> </p><p>"Let him go," David murmured, reaching a hand out to tug Marko to a stop. "He needs to work things out for himself."</p><p> </p><p>Marko nodded. "I hate seeing him like this."</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, I know. He'll come out of it, though. He never stays in a funk for long. I wouldn't get around him anytime soon, though. He's going to find out real quick that even trying to forget is going to prove to be a bitch. He'll enjoy life a hell of a lot more once he gives in and works things out."</p><p> </p><p>"Don't you have him confused with Paulie?" Marko pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>David shook his head. "Nope. He's fighting it in his own way. It's more emotional for him, and he hates to admit that, but a mating bond is nothing to fuck with. Believe me, let him go and find out for himself. After all that shit last night, we deserve to have a little fun," he added. Marko started to voice his agreement when a group of outspoken jocks pushed passed them, snorting with laughter as one collided with Marko's shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>"Watch where you're standing, asshole!" he growled, and the others catcalled and laughed as they walked off, unconcerned. For his part, Marko watched them go and raised an eyebrow at David.</p><p> </p><p>"What'd I tell you? That's the awesome thing about the Boardwalk: fun always comes when you need it most," David snickered, turning to follow the group that was hard to miss. Marko smirked his agreement and took off after David, his eyes trained on the idiot that had nearly run him over as his fangs slowly slid down.</p><p> </p><p>*****************</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne had been stalking the chestnut-haired beauty for a good ten minutes before she happened to catch him in her peripheral vision. She gave him a confident smile before leaving her pack of girlfriends and strutting over to where he leaned against a food booth out of the way of the line. His eyes took in every detail silently: her long silky hair, her sculpted body, the skin that was slightly lighter than his, the sensual mouth and wicked eyes. More than that she oozed self-assurance, a slight vanity, and a guaranteed knowledge of what she was doing. His mouth watered for her blood, but the rest of him was startlingly not affected. <em>Weird. Well, I’m worn out from last night. Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy dinner and a show to get my mind off things. </em></p><p> </p><p>"Hey," she breathed, glancing from her glossed nails to his eyes. He felt himself react in the basest of ways, but his mind was turned off, seeing her but not caring in the slightest. </p><p> </p><p>"Hey there," he murmured, and he started to raise his hand towards her hair when he realized that it was immaculate, every strand in place. There was no need for such a tender, intimate gesture, not like with...</p><p> </p><p><em>Not now, </em>he reminded himself. He was determined to not think about that. He didn't necessarily care what she was doing with Paul, but thoughts of those hazel eyes took him right back to how scared she’d looked the night before, despite finally giving in and enjoying herself. <em>I deserve a break. And if it leads to more than blood, she knows what I am and how the game is played. She can deal with it. </em>It was a heinous lie and he knew it, but the only other option was dealing with the emotions that churned deep inside, and he wasn’t about to go there.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm Cherri," she purred, swiveling a leg under her long skirt girlishly. The gesture was fake, lacking the true unconscious sweetness that was so much a part of the movements that...</p><p> </p><p>He forced a casual smile. "Dwayne. You feel like some company tonight?" he drawled, making a show of eyeing her up and down. She was so polished and put together. She could have run into the crowd at that moment and perfectly blended in like any other random person he was going to kill. She wasn't interesting or fun to watch, or anything. Not like...</p><p> </p><p>"You wanna get a bite or something?" she asked, raising a brow meaningfully. It got her point across well enough but it was annoying.</p><p> </p><p><em>Gotta pull yourself together or it's gonna be a long night</em>, he chided himself as he took the hand she offered. </p><p> </p><p>"Sounds like a plan. I know just the place," he replied, curling his arm round her waist as he led her off towards a more secluded location. She didn't feel right against the bend of his arm at all. That fact alone irritated him more and more with every step they took.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0036"><h2>36. Conversation Piece</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny and Paul discuss  what it means to be a vampire</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Remind me to thank Marko. Repeatedly," Jinny breathed around the hamburger that was nearly as big as her head. He’d apparently had enough foresight to bring food along with the small mountain of supplies he’d dragged into the cave, from the sound of things. The mingling flavors of meat, cheese, bacon, lettuce, pickles, and tomatoes coagulated on her tongue until the taste in her mouth was an overwhelming hamburgery delight. She groaned in appreciation and opened an eye at the amused snicker. "What's wrong with you?"</p><p> </p><p>"Nothing, I just like watching you enjoy your food. Reminds me of a cross between some weird fetish porn and  'Wild Kingdom,'" Paul added, ducking her elbow. </p><p> </p><p>"Shuddup, it's good," she growled around her mouthful, balancing the sandwich so she could swat the hand that was attempting to slide a few fries from the box sitting between them. "Mine," she warned.</p><p> </p><p>"Either you've taken your street learning to heart or you just don't share well with others," the vampire griped, leaning back against the pillows. </p><p> </p><p>"It's food, I get territorial," Jinny replied, swiping at a glob of mayo on the corner of her mouth with her tongue. It's not like you can eat it, anyway," she pointed out before diving back in. </p><p>           </p><p>"See this is when you shouldn't believe everything ya read," the vampire remarked lazily, his fingers slowly walking back towards the fries. Jinny frowned, processing that. He was a vampire, of <em>course </em>he didn't eat real food, why would he? Though in the movie there had been that Chinese food scene, but still...</p><p> </p><p>"It's more of an extracurricular sport than any real nutritional value," Paul explained, cutting into her thoughts. "Blood is the best, don't get me wrong, but sometimes ya just get a hankering for something else."</p><p> </p><p>"But how does that work, then?" she asked, quickly covering her mouth at his smirk. When both of her hands were occupied he lunged, swiping a few golden bits of potato from their cardboard sanctuary. "Hey!"</p><p> </p><p>"Snooze ya lose," he laughed, popping them in his mouth, chewing easily. No one should have been that fascinating when they ate. "It's not a huge deal, though sometimes it can be a pain if you overdo it without feeding enough for real. When we made the adjustment our bodies stopped processing normal food like they used to. If we’re good on blood and feeding regularly it’s usually fine, though if we’re eating more human food or get lax in feeding, there can be an issue. Though there are things one can do," he added mysteriously, jumping out of bed to saunter towards a worn-looking end table. Even in the harsh light of the camping lantern he was quite a sight to see: confident, comfortable in his skin, and more than a little easy on the eyes. Paul muttered to himself while he dug through a few drawers, finally giving a triumphant grunt when he found what he was looking for. Jinny waited, wondering what type of vampire secret she was about to be let in on. </p><p> </p><p>It should've been a disappointment when he straightened and tossed her the bottle of antacid, but the sight of the bottle of chalky tablets flying her way was enough to earn a laugh.</p><p> </p><p>"You've got to be kidding!" she giggled when it landed onto the bed with a soft plop.</p><p> </p><p>"What, it's good stuff! Maybe not the best tasting, but it works and lets us have a little of the old days without wanting to slice out an organ," Paul admitted.</p><p> </p><p>"So if that helps you survive eating real food, then how do you...um..." Jinny paused, trying to use her experience with the written word drive her to get the sentence out. "How do you...get rid of it?"</p><p> </p><p>The blond opened his mouth and closed it in an uncharacteristic move of censorship. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you..." he started, his eyes speaking much more vividly to fill in the blanks. "But do you <em>really </em>want to know?"</p><p> </p><p>Her face scrunched and even though she was sure that what she could come up with in her imagination was far worse, at this point she wouldn't place money on it. "Apparently not," she finally decided.</p><p> </p><p>He nodded his agreement, diving back onto the mattress before righting himself with a frown. "Where's the fries?"</p><p> </p><p>Jinny gave an innocent shrug. "They were lonely, so I ate them."</p><p> </p><p>He blinked. "You finished that whole box of fries that fast?"</p><p> </p><p>Her return look let him know that he was probably stupid for asking such a question. "I was hungry! What, you think because I'm a girl I'm going to eat tiny meals or graze all the time? I like to eat," she muttered, continuing her demolition of the hamburger.</p><p> </p><p>Smarmy would have been a tame description for the grin tossed her way. "Lucky me," he snickered, laughing when she threw the food bag and a few napkins at him. "Hey, hey! Let's not turn the bed into a field!" he muttered, swiping at the chopped lettuce fluttered across the bedding.</p><p> </p><p>"Just brush it off! It's only lettuce, it's not important," she shot back, brushing the sheets clean.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't let Dwayne hear you talk like that," Paul warned, though he looked more amused than actually concerned. "Hell, never let him see you attack a hamburger like that," he added, shaking his head, his grin broadening the more confused she looked.</p><p> </p><p>"Why, does he have a big heart towards defenseless greens or something?"</p><p> </p><p>"Nah, he's a vegetarian." His hand was on her back when she choked, though it took her a moment to swallow her mouthful without spewing it across the bedspread. She doubted even Paul's patience wouldn't survive that.</p><p> </p><p>"He's <em>what</em>?!"</p><p> </p><p>Paul smirked at her incredulous face. "He's a vegetarian! Isn't it hilarious?"</p><p> </p><p>            She frowned, immediately accepting the challenge. "But a vegetarian won't...they don't eat mean, right?"</p><p> </p><p>"He usually won’t eat anything that's been alive in terms of animal products. Or most byproducts, but it depends. He likes ice cream too much to give up dairy," he chuckled.</p><p> </p><p>"But Dwayne's a vampire," Jinny reminded him, as if it wasn't an obvious fact.</p><p> </p><p>He laughed and nodded. "Yeah, he is."</p><p> </p><p>Seeing that Paul wasn't about to help her out Jinny's mind quickly started to make the jump to find any possible way around the dilemma. "So...I mean...how does that even work!? He kills people for food!"</p><p> </p><p>            "Yeah, but only vegetarians and vegans," Paul corrected. "He figures the 'you are what you eat' is a good enough loophole for what he is."</p><p> </p><p>            Jinny frowned, her temples throbbing as she struggled to make it all make sense. Paul chuckled as he popped the top to the antacid bottle. She shook her head as he flicked a couple tablets into his mouth with the perverted skill and grace of someone dropping something much harder. "What?" he asked when he noticed her stare.</p><p> </p><p>"You are so weird," she sighed, sucking the grease and ketchup off her fingertips as she glanced up at him.  "So..." It was a lame thing to say, but her mind was so busy trying to wrap around all of the new quirks that she had to forego elegant speech. He blinked and chuckled, patting the space on the mattress beside him. </p><p> </p><p>"Girl, I know you're tender. It's okay. You're not here just for that, I swear," he added, giving her a look when she started to contradict him. </p><p> </p><p>"I didn't really think you'd be one for conversation," she admitted, crawling up to the spot beside him. </p><p> </p><p>"Neither did I, but it's not as traumatizing as I thought," he admitted, smirking at her face. </p><p> </p><p>"Thank you so much for that," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "So, is there any other vampire weirdness I need to know about?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul smirked and flicked his tongue over a finger that still bore drops of rogue ketchup. "You asking because you mean well or are ya bein' nosey?" He grinned at her face. "Don't even try to look offended. Remember, I can tell."</p><p> </p><p>"Fine," she huffed. "Maybe a little of both. I don't want to accidentally do something that'll hurt one of you, though."</p><p> </p><p>His face grew thoughtful, though his words were a complete dismissal. "We'll warn you if we see it coming. Actually, a lot of things you get used to being a part of your life, you don't think of them as being vampire-specific," he admitted. </p><p> </p><p>She nodded and it slowly began to dawn on her why Paul might be so tight-lipped. "I'm not looking for ways to do you in, if that's what you mean."</p><p> </p><p>He blinked. "I never said you were-"</p><p> </p><p>"I mean, David may piss me off, but I'm not suicidal enough to-"</p><p> </p><p>He shook his head quickly. "Jin, calm down. It's more that it'll just occur to me when we get there. Can you honestly say you'd be able to tell me all the little things that make you a woman? Besides the obvious."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny frowned and relaxed into the bedding as she thought over all the obvious body parts and functions before moving on to all the quirks that defined women in society. There was marriage, shopping, mood swings, magazines, gossip, but those were just the stereotypical bits. In fact, a lot of the defining characteristics of her gender where subjective or changed from woman to woman. And the more she thought about it, the more she uncovered until she was sure she was missing something. "Point taken," she finally admitted. </p><p> </p><p>Paul nodded. "It's not like we have cue cards to remind us of how to live. You just do it, get used to it, or end up on the wrong end of a stake. That's why we tend to live in groups. You need others there to help look out for ya. It's possible for a vamp to go it on their own, but it's not as much fun, and it's more dangerous. And in the end, we were once human. No matter what powers we have or how badass we get, we still need friends.” </p><p> </p><p>            Jinny mulled it all over. In all of her writing, if there was ever a point where the mysteries of vampirism needed to be explained to a character that wasn't in the know it was usually David or Dwayne that ended up being featured in those chapters. She never would have pegged Paul out of all of them for being the one to explain things to her, but he had a way of getting past all the fancy details and putting it into a language she could actually understand.</p><p> </p><p> "Not just a pretty face," he laughed when he saw how bewildered she was by the turn of events. "You don't make it for long by just having fun." She silently agreed. It would take a certain savvy and edge, something that she had taken for granted when she had considered him before. </p><p> </p><p>"Do you ever miss being human?" she asked, unconsciously curling up against his side. It seemed so natural for him to shift his weight to get an arm around her that she didn't even notice when it happened.</p><p> </p><p>Paul frowned as if he was searching for an elusive answer to a final exam. "I...I guess. Maybe? Sometimes. I mean...yeah. You miss the basic things sometimes. Sunlight, being able to hang with random people and not have another motive, but I'd rather be what I am now. There are way too many benefits. I always liked the night better anyway," he admitted, "And no one fucks with us. And it's eternal youth. You don't have to worry about paying the bills or settling down or doing anything you don't want to do. You don't have to worry about growing old or losing your memory or bodily capabilities, or trying to finish all you want to do before it's your time to move on, unless things go really tits up, but that’s part of life and unlife."</p><p>           </p><p>"But is it worth killing for?" she asked quietly.</p><p> </p><p>To her surprise ,Paul gave it more than a moment's thought. "Yeah. There's always the argument that people eat chickens and cows and stuff. It's kind of like that, but on the other hand, it's not. You have to look your meal in the face. It's never going to be processed so you're always aware every time you go to feed of what you're doing. Animals just don’t work unless you’re desperate to survive for a short time, and there’s too many hassles and red tape with blood banks unless you have a contact or Renfield or something on the inside. We can eat other stuff, but it's not going to sustain us.”</p><p> </p><p>He gave her a long, slow look as if he was trying to decide whether to really go on and say what he wanted, and in the end she assumed that she passed some sort of mental examination because he kept talking. "It’s easier to go after the criminals or lowlifes, especially at first. That’s where the mind thing helps, because if you know they’re an asshole, it’s easier to do it. But...have you ever had moments where you've been so mad at someone, so furious because they were trying to take away something you wanted so badly, or they just were so stupid and were in your way, or they were so unfair that you couldn't even believe they'd been born that you just wanted to..." he trailed off, and for a moment his face contracted inwards and a very real look of darkness clouded over his features.</p><p> </p><p>She should have been afraid. Killing out of survival was one thing, but to admit to focusing in on anger to get through with that killing just so he could feed. <em>But who hasn’t had moments like that? Look at some of the things you’ve written in moments like that. </em>Her fingers curled between Paul's slowly and she nodded. "Yes. Yes I have. When you put it that way, I guess it's easy."</p><p> </p><p>He moved his hand to squeeze hers and shook his head. "Not always. You learn tricks along the way. You go for the types of people that used to piss you off, and if you can't find those there's always scum to feed from. The quality suffers a little, but it's a hell of a lot better than randomly going after someone and then realizing when you taste them that they had a full, happy life ahead of them," he murmured softly. "But sometimes it just doesn’t work out and you gotta do what you gotta do, so it’s easy to become a little hard-assed about it, claim top of the food chain and all. I'm not a bad guy," he added as an afterthought. </p><p> </p><p>Jinny smiled slightly. "No, you're not. It's just the lifestyle, isn't it?"</p><p> </p><p>He smiled slightly, apparently liking that. "Yeah, pretty much. Dead with benefits." His ego seemed to return with that comment.</p><p> </p><p>"But don't you ever miss your family, old friends, your old way of life?" she asked, watching the way his fingers twined around hers.</p><p> </p><p>He shrugged. "None of us had a horrific time of it, but we didn't all have it easy, either. Sometimes you just get tired of things, and if you find a better way, you get out, y'know? And honestly I don't remember a lot of specifics."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny's brow creased. "How could you not remember? It wasn't like you were a baby when you were turned. You led a completely different life before you became a vampire!" It reminded her vaguely of Peter Pan, how the lost boys and their leader were so caught up in the adventures of the day to day that a type of delirious amnesia had settled upon them, save for a few vague shadows of memories unless they truly focused on the past.</p><p> </p><p>Paul smirked at her line of thought. "Yeah, David likes that theory, too. Nah, it's more like...you have the memories of when you were a kid, right?" he asked and she nodded. "Okay, so there are some that jump out at you, and there are some that you can trigger if you see a photo or something, right?" She nodded again and he continued, face animated, pleased to be able to be the one to sort things out and not just be watching from the sidelines for once. "But on the whole, things are foggy from when you were two or three, and even if you look back on like high school or middle school or even four or five years ago...you know what happened, but it's like it's a chapter in a book or a movie scene, or something that happened to someone entirely different."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny nodded. "Except for a few defining moments, sure."</p><p> </p><p>"It's more like that. We just don't really focus on trying to keep hold of every memory from that old way of life. We don't need it. We’re all to the point now where nothing’s going to really overlap and cause problems. We're not the same people we were back then. In some ways, yeah, we have the same personalities, but blood and time changes things. You happen to remember everything from where you came from?"</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head. "Some yeah, but...things here are much more vivid. I don't need to recall who my dentist was two years ago or where I kept my backpack in my room, or even of the littlest things anymore. I've had to focus on survival so much, the rest just kind of flew out the window, and that was only a few months ago," she admitted.</p><p> </p><p>"But you still remember the important stuff, and you're still the same person," he prompted, winding a stray lock of her hair around a fingertip.</p><p> </p><p>"Well, deep down, of course! Okay, I see what you mean," she conceded. "Though I suppose it would be too much to ask for a full-out autobiography," she added, only slightly disappointed at his laughter.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, not gonna happen anytime soon.”</p><p> </p><p>"I don't even get to know how old any of you really are?" she asked, wrinkling her nose in irritation. "That's not cool-"</p><p>           </p><p>"Would it make any difference?" he asked, the hand that was twined with hers idly tracing the veins that showed easily through the skin of the back of her hand. It was slightly disturbing, but he wasn't looking at the blood vessels like a day tripper at an all you can eat buffet, so she figured it was harmless. "Is there any reason to know except to prove you were right in what you assumed?"</p><p>           </p><p>Her sigh was irritable. "I guess not. I'm just curious. I don't want to be completely in the dark."</p><p> </p><p>"And you won't be. You'll find out some stuff, just like I hope we get to find out some stuff about you. But a lot of the nitty gritty...it's not you, Jin," he added quickly. "It's just that David won't trust that with anyone who isn't a part of this."</p><p> </p><p>She frowned. "I thought you said-"</p><p> </p><p>"You're part of us, but you don't have the teeth," he went on, watching her face carefully. He wasn't sure how well she'd take that, but she didn't rant about how excluded she felt or demand to be turned.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm not sure how I feel about that," Jinny finally admitted. "But it's fair, I guess, at least for right now. It wouldn't be right to trust some random person with that information unless they were bound to you. I get it."</p><p> </p><p>She could feel his eyes on her as much as she felt the slightly empty piece shaking inside of her. There was no reason for her to feel left out, it was ridiculous. She was being offered more than she had ever expected, and if it really was a front for her death, then there wasn't much she could do but wait for it. Deep down, it disturbed her even more to realize that was that hungry for inclusion, especially from them.</p><p> </p><p>"You're tired, babe. Why don't you get some shut-eye and we can pick up later," he suggested.</p><p> </p><p>Jinny frowned and wondered just how much time they had spent gabbing away the nighttime hours. "Is...is that okay?" she asked, trying to suppress a yawn.</p><p> </p><p>"I've got you for a few days, don't worry ‘bout it," he assured her, clearing off the rest of the crumbs from the bed before fixing the covers over both of them. "Just remember that you've got a lot more than what you had before. A lot more than what David's ever offered anyone," Paul reminded her as he hit the camping lantern's switch, sending the room back into darkness.</p><p> </p><p>She did know, and it made her feel relieved, irritated, questioning, grateful, a thousand different things that didn't make sense. She didn't feel worthy of it at all, and yet she was terrified that as soon as she let herself be happy she'd wake up back home and realize all she'd left behind.<em>I’ve got to get out of here before I get too attached. I’m just setting myself up for disappointment.</em></p><p> </p><p>Her eyes sought out the door to the cavern and Paul's arms tightened around her. "You're not going anywhere, Jin.  You're not leaving us." It was part reassurance, part warning.</p><p> </p><p>"You don't know that. I don't even know that," she sighed.</p><p> </p><p>He started to say something but edited his reply. "I don't know, but I have a hell of a hunch," he whispered. </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Yeah, I couldn't help this, I will always think moments like this are awesome and hilarious, no apologies.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0037"><h2>37. Changes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dwayne attempts to test his limits and is disturbed by his conflicted feelings. </p><p>or angst ahoy</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Cherri didn't show any resistance when Dwayne turned and pressed her up against the side of the nearest alley, leaning into her personal space with a meaningful smirk. She raised her chin defiantly and ran a hand down his chest, manicured nails snagging on the brushed jersey of his T-shirt. It was a move that should've inspired at least some little reaction in him. He felt it, but remained unmoved, locked in his role in the strange dance.</p><p> </p><p><em>I’m just stressed. That's all, </em>he assured himself as he cupped her cheek in a large palm. The smooth tan of her skin almost blended into his own, far from the mouth-watering contrast of Jinny's pale little hands on him. He frowned and had to quickly get his mind back on what he was doing so he could figure out why the hell the girl in front of him was clicking her damn tongue.</p><p> </p><p>"I've heard the stories about you," she murmured, quickly cutting off his unamused expression with a brush of her fingers against his neck. Cherri's eyes were dark and hungry, and Dwayne made himself find some sort of excitement in the primal depths. "I love a challenge," she purred, raising forward on her toes to seal her mouth over his. He leaned in at her invitation, rubbed up against her as her hands carded through his hair. It was something he generally liked, but he couldn’t get into it. Her mouth was far from hesitant and she attacked his tongue with her own like a weird sparring match as her hands wandered. It should have been behavior to prompt his own rougher side, should have inspired him to start shucking clothes or sliding his hands under hers. It should have ignited something and urged him to let himself go. Instead, it left him bored out of his mind.</p><p> </p><p>Her mouth slid to his ear and she gave a low whine when his hand cupped her breast and gave an experimental squeeze. The sound vaguely reminded him of one of the boney, mean feral cats that he had to scare off when he walked through the back alleys of some of the seedier parts of Santa Carla. That was not a sound to get close to, to cuddle up to and enjoy. <em>The fuck is this? I’ve had to talk myself into delaying orgasm, but never into one. </em></p><p> </p><p>"Not so bad, huh?" she drawled, gliding her mouth up and down the line of his throat.</p><p> </p><p>It was another hot spot for him, and he found himself relaxing a little. <em>That’s better. It’s just stress. Just chill and enjoy or think of something else ‘til she’s distracted. </em>Her blood still called to him, her pulse was vibrant music to his ears, but getting a victim to relax took certain touches that he couldn’t circumvent without drawing an assload of attention.He leaned his head back against her mouth’s soft kisses and nbbles, and she took it as an invitation. When Dwayne registered the light nip of her teeth at a particular spot of his neck he reacted instantly, pushing her off and pinning her hard to the wall.</p><p> </p><p>"No. Teeth," he growled and ran his hand along his neck to feel for any marks. He felt no recognition with her, anyway, but the thought of her biting him, especially <em>there, </em>turned his stomach. A small sigh escaped when he found nothing but the familiar tingle that was always beneath his skin.  </p><p>           </p><p>"Fine, not everyone likes it rough," Cherri agreed, licking her lips as she looked him over. "I can put my mouth to better use if you want," she offered.</p><p> </p><p>He had the opening to tell her no and he knew it, told himself that he had to string her along just a little longer to get to the main course. It wasn’t jealousy, wasn’t his own curiosity at what would happen spurring him on, or at least that’s what he insisted. She grinned when he quickly turned them so that he could lean up against the building and she was on her knees in front. <em>This is what I need. I just need to get off, chill out, then feed. </em>The scent of her perfume mingled with the scent of blood still trapped within the confines of her body and he let that be the aphrodesiac he needed. When she opened his fly, Dwayne was relieved to find that he had at least started to get there. The last thing he needed was to unwittingly provide any truth to the stupid rumors that Jinny had started ages ago. In some ways those had proved to be a godsend, because for every group of chicks that turned their back on them, there were the go-getters like Cherri who were bound and determined to show them all that they were the woman to ‘fix’ them. In the end, it had become a great to play dumb and reap the benefits. </p><p> </p><p>Or at least it had been, right up until that point.</p><p> </p><p>“Now that’s what I’m talkin’ bout,” Cherri cooed before sinking her mouth on him Dwayne sunk a hand into her hair and frowned at how the strands were too silky, too slick, like she had purposefully drenched herself in conditioner. Her mouth was skilled and her throat was tight, but she got straight to work, going at him like she was on a schedule and had a flight to catch right after. He grimaced at the force of her suction and tugged on her hair in an attempt to get her to ease up. She took it the wrong way and attacked her task even harder, looking up at him with glittering eyes that had no emotion in them whatsoever except for hunger, the need for a quick fix with a hot lay. It was nothing compared to the wide, expressive eyes and gentle care he’d been on the receiving end the night before.</p><p> </p><p><em>Fuck, why can’t I do this? </em>Dwayne growled in disgust and quickly pushed her away, shaking his head, determined to not feel any guilt. He was what he was, and he needed to get to her blood.</p><p> </p><p>"You don't like?" Cherri pouted, gasping when he scooped her up and pressed her against the wall, his tongue darting out to taste her lower lip. Her gloss was the flavor of her name and he smirked, despite the chemical taste on the tip of his tongue.</p><p> </p><p>"Like it a little too much, girl. I think I'm ready for the next course if you are," he breathed. Her legs tucked around his waist and squeezed him to her, already working her skirt up past her hips to reveal her lack of panties. He had to fight the frown at how much that irritated him. She definitely knew how to fuck, but she was too controlling, too fast-paced and focused on herself. Her mind was a blank swirl of hunger and thoughts of how many people wouldn’t believe that she’d gotten his attention, that she’d had him. She sure as hell didn't know how to love.</p><p> </p><p>And it was a disturbing revelation that he suddenly knew the difference between the two.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, I'm ready, babe, let's see what you got," she moaned, arching as she waited for him to enter her. Everything suddenly seemed to snap into place as he leaned into her jugular, his mouth watering for the taste of coppery life. He held her there for a few moments, letting the anticipation work him over before he suddenly, violently plunged into her -</p><p> </p><p>- but only with his teeth.</p><p> </p><p>It was good blood, exactly the kind he liked: tinged with a little alcohol, free of meat, full of youth and daring and enough arrogance to assuage any guilt. <em>This I can do. It’ll be okay. </em>It came as a relief that at least he could enjoy <em>that. </em></p><p>
  
</p><p>He suddenly began to notice other things: the bitter taste of the base of her perfume that covered the skin around the wound. No matter where he ran his tongue, he always seemed to catch a taste of it. <em>Did she dump the whole fucking bottle on her neck?</em>He didn't need to breathe, but he still didn't miss the scent of her hairspray. If he hadn't already been dead he would have been worried about being killed off by the fumes. Dwayne growled in frustration, turning his head to get away from the intrusive smells, but those silky, fluttery, sleek, obnoxious strands of hair kept floating over his cheek. He shuddered. They were too soft, the smell of her hair products too overwhelming to his predator senses up close.</p><p> </p><p>Then there was her damn moaning. She sounded like she’d tried to memorize a porn soundtrack and bring it to life. <em>Shut up and give me something real! </em>He growled and shook her a bit. She wasn't even trying to struggle, but arched up as he sucked at the wound and batted the hair away with increasing irritation. Usually his victims would get a clue and either struggle or hold still, but she kept wriggling, trying to guide herself onto his cock but only ended up wetting his pelvis at the hairline.</p><p> </p><p>"God, this isn't working," Dwayne grunted and finally pulled off and bit his lip with his fangs, leaning back in only to rub his bleeding mouth against her wound so it would heal. He pulled away and watched the skin soothe itself, tasting his own blood as his lip healed to get her taste out of his mouth. </p><p> </p><p>"You're telling me. I know you need some encouraging, but I want you, big guy. That was nice and all, but I'm ready for more," Cherri complained, though her voice was distant and fuzzy.  Dwayne shook his head at the woman and checked the side of her neck to make sure it was clean before cupping her face in his hands. </p><p> </p><p>"I know, babe, but you know what they say," he whispered, nuzzling his mouth against hers before quickly jerking her neck from side to side, smirking at the satisfied crunch. It was the best sound he had heard from her all evening. "Be careful what you wish for," he growled before stalking off, leaving the body that the police would take for an unfortunate prostitute crumpled against the pavement. </p><p> </p><p>**************</p><p> </p><p>David and Marko grinned at the last few jocks that tried to run up the beach towards the Boardwalk. It was all too easy to get ahead of them. "See, boys, this is why your mommies always warned you never to go to a secluded place to party," David sneered before ripping off the arm of a particularly irritating guy that had dared to take a few swings at him. </p><p> </p><p>"Only my kid sis plays by those dumb rules, asshole," a voice growled from behind the leader. He obviously hadn't seen either vampire up close yet and David grinned. He loved the victims that were full of themselves. "This is our part of beach, so just clear the fuck off!" David let the torso that he had been draining drop to the ground before spinning to face the new threat, barely caring about the section of chain that sliced the air. He caught the end before giving it a hard yank. The sound of the idiot's arm tearing from its socket was a beautiful, wet crunch. He screamed and clutched the limp appendage as David stalked towards him, his screams rising in pitch when he finally got a good look at the gang leader's face.</p><p> </p><p>"Apparently your sister's the only smart one in your family," David laughed before slicing into the meaty throat with his teeth. He shuddered as the vibrations from the jerk's dying screams throbbed into his mouth with the blood. </p><p> </p><p>A few yards away, Marko was systematically playing with the moron that had knocked into him earlier, taking great relish in wounding him and letting him run a few feet before feeding, then releasing him to start the chase again. The more blood the loudmouth lost, the more he stumbled and the more terrified he got until he collapsed behind a dune, panting.</p><p> </p><p>When he looked up and saw the cherubic face of the guy he had never pegged as a threat looking demonic and hungry, he couldn't summon the energy to scream or run. All he managed was a few weak curses and pleas as Marko slid down the hill to finish the job.</p><p> </p><p>When he had finished, Marko wiped his mouth on the back of his glove leisurely, though it really didn’t do much good since the rest of him was coated in the sticky fluid, anyway. He chuckled and shook his head as he slid a wallet from the back pocket of the corpse. "Gotta love the entitled suburban youth," he muttered, shaking his head at how much the kid's parents apparently gave him as an allowance. His ears perked at new screams and he quickly righted himself, slightly giddy from the feed. </p><p> </p><p>The last two who had been lucky enough to sustain only minor wounds thus far were realizing their luck had come to an abrupt end with Dwayne's sudden appearance. Marko raised an eyebrow but shrugged. He had fed enough to stay happy and David was definitely keeping busy. The dark-haired vampire attacked his victims with an aggression that was beyond his usual energy when he fed. Dwayne's usual tactics were alarmingly deceptive. He liked the seduction game, as they all did, but when it came to a hunt where brute force was needed he could put most of them, save maybe David, to shame.  Marko glanced away from the carnage as David walked over to him, giving a low whistle. They both ducked as an abrupt spray of blood arched beautifully across the sand, spattering messily over anything it landed on.</p><p>           </p><p>"Shit, he's in a mood," David sighed, shaking his head as he pulled out his cigarettes and offered the pack to Marko.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0038"><h2>38. The Ties that Bind</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny learns about the concept of mating bonds from Paul, and new discoveries are made</p><p>I know, I know! Don't worry, things will get better! As always, comments and kudos are awesome.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jinny frowned and wriggled under the covers, her hand sliding down to her inner thigh as her mind tugged itself back to the surface. She wasn't sure what time it was, but she had felt something in her leg. Probably a twisted muscle. Her hand went to the mattress beside her and her frown grew upon feeling it empty. I knew it. I fucking knew it. Her stomach plummeted at the sudden thought of being duped. Maybe he’s waiting for me to slink out the door, maybe he’s stalking me now that my guard’s down. Maybe he left because I didn’t put out again-</p><p>"Maybe you need to turn on the light and chill out," a familiar voice called from across the room. Jinny made a face and leaned over towards the floor, feeling for the camping lantern before successfully hitting the switch. She winced at the sudden, harsh light but was relieved to see Paul leaning against the doorway.</p><p>"Where were you?!" she stammered, glaring at his surprised expression.</p><p>"Trying to figure out where to put all your new stuff so you don't have to walk the cave naked just to get moved in," he replied, his frown deepening at her chastised expression. "What's wrong?"</p><p>She shook her head. "Dunno. I just felt...it's nothing, probably just a muscle cramp," she went on, brushing it off.</p><p>"Where at? Maybe I can help, I'm good with my hands," Paul offered. She smirked, though his expression was genuine. </p><p>"My inner thigh. Probably just everything catching up with me," she sighed as he tugged down the bedding and took a look at where she pointed. "I cut it open a long time ago, but it seemed to heal up alright."</p><p>Paul nodded, his face deep in thought as he traced the pale skin there with a fingertip. "That hurt?" She shook her head and he pressed on it lightly. "That?"</p><p>"No, it's fine. It...it wasn't really painful, more like a weird, deep twinge. Maybe it's infected under the skin or something-"</p><p>"No chance of that," Paul murmured, smiling slightly. "Dwayne and I healed it, ourselves."</p><p>She blinked and raised an eyebrow. "You healed my leg but wouldn't-"</p><p>"David doesn't know what we did. We didn't want to deal with another doctor and it didn't look good. Anything with barbed wire isn't supposed to be used as an obstacle course, Jin," he sighed. </p><p>She gave him a slow, uneasy look. "When you say healed..."</p><p>"Just a little blood, nothing that would hurt you. Saliva works for surface wounds, but that needed something more. If we're trying to disguise deep feeding wounds on a body it's an old trick, but it heals up living skin, too. I've never seen it backfire, hell, none of us have even heard of that happening."</p><p>She nodded, accepting that for the moment. "Leave it to me to be the slim minority."</p><p>He climbed onto the bed beside her. "Tell me what you felt, exactly."</p><p>"Well I was asleep, so I'm not completely sure. It wasn't like it had fallen asleep, but kind of tingly? But also kind of  crampy.  Just in that one place, though." Paul's eyebrows raised but his face went back to being passive. </p><p>"It's probably nothing, just the cave air or somethin'," he mused.</p><p>Jinny's eyes narrowed. "Bullshit, I saw that look on your face. Come on, what's up?"</p><p>He sighed and slid her a look. "If it's what I think it is you're not going to like it," he warned.</p><p>"Let me guess, your blood somehow merged with mine and while I'm not a vampire I'm going to have sudden, deranged urges to burst into song and write love poetry," she deadpanned, ducking the pillow thrown in her direction.</p><p>"When you put it that way, it isn't anything horrible," he admitted, though he was still being tactful. "But it makes sense, I guess, considerin’. Makes a lot of sense."</p><p>"You care to let me in on all the sense-making?" she asked.</p><p>"Well...ok, to put this in perspective...you remember when you bit Dwayne, right?" he started carefully.</p><p>"It's a little fuzzy, but yeah," she murmured.</p><p>"And when you bit me - the first time," he corrected, smirking at her blush. "When I was Michael," he clarified.</p><p>"Yeah, but it wasn't that hard-"</p><p>He shook his head. "Doesn't matter. Okay, in vamp folklore...some of that's shit, but some of it's not. You know anything about Carpathia?"</p><p>She raised an eyebrow. "I didn't even think you knew the word Carpathia, but yeah, I've heard of it. Carpathian mountains, in Transylvania, or maybe it's Moldavia. That whole area always confuses me," she sighed, and it was her turn to blink at his look. "What? I spent a summer reading the encyclopedia of vampire folklore and popular entertainment," she muttered, glancing down at her hands.</p><p>"Well, that helps. I guess it would be the same between universes. Anyway, in the old days-”</p><p>"Was this when vampires were just kind of mindless corpses killing off whoever or the whole scare about relatives eating their families during the tuberculosis epidemic?" she interjected. Paul's hand went up to his forehead briefly.</p><p>"Okay, maybe it doesn't help. Jin, turn off your damn brain and work with me here!"</p><p>"Alright, alright," she muttered, grabbing a pillow and curling herself around it. Paul smiled at the maneuver and shook his head.</p><p>"Anyway. There's this theory that in the old days, when our kind first originated in that area that even though vampire were supposed soulless beings and evil and all that shit, that it was actually more of a race than a fluke." He shrugged. "It's nothing proven, more how the superstitious religious tried to make sense of us and have an excuse to get rid of anyone that freaked them out.  It's just whatever you choose to believe. Anyway, it was a very selective race, mind you, and since we become sterile when we're turned-"</p><p>"Thank God for small favors," she muttered under her breath. "Sorry," she squeaked at his look.</p><p>"There wasn't much of a way to continue on the race besides turning others. Now there's an old story that occasionally a vampire would be drawn to a human or vice versa. There’s a lot of stories but not a lot of real detail about it, like if it’s some mechanical blood thing or if it’s like a cosmic soul mate thing.”</p><p>She blinked, opened her mouth, shut it again. “I kinda thought the whole vampire soul mate bond thing was a romance genre kink.”</p><p>He snorted. “You’d think so, but it’s real. Super rare, but real. We always ignored it since it never really came up. Max talked a bit about it – he’d known some bonded couples and supposedly there’s the possibility it could be more than two people-” He paused when her eyes grew so wide he thought they’d roll out of her face.</p><p>“Wait what?! You’re saying…”</p><p>Paul shrugged. “It’s about the only thing that really makes sense. But back then, say a vampire and a human were drawn to each other, whether by fate or whatever the fuck you want to call it. So they’d decide to turn their human lover so they could be together forever and everything would be beautiful and all that shit," he went on, sighing at her flush. "I'm not proposing by any means, so calm down and let me finish! But like mating bonds need a physical manifestation, plus there’s the huge ass responsibility of keeping a weaker human safe from other vampires. So until their intended was turned, they'd mark them someway, usually with a bite somewhere so they could keep tabs on them and they’d remember who they were mated to. The bearer of that mark would feel it and know if their mate was still alive. If something happened, they'd feel it and could go after them. Or they'd feel it if their mate was shopping around," he added carefully, though it was obvious she was still on the bite portion of the commentary.</p><p>"But what does that have to do with-"</p><p>"We always thought it was a vampire thing, that it was practical and not really romantic or meant to span time and space and shit, despite the stories. Like I said, we’ve never come across a bonded pair, ourselves, and Max had the whole family fetish so it was easy to ignore anything that propped up his fantasy. None of us has ever heard of it working in reverse, of a human marking a vampire. It may not be something that's ever happened before," he added.</p><p>She nodded, still clueless. "But what does that..." Her eyes widened as she trailed off. "No."</p><p>He nodded vehemently. "Yeah. Both of us. That's why David made sure it was both of us."</p><p>"And you...you still feel it?" she murmured quietly</p><p>Paul nodded. "I'm always aware of it, yeah." </p><p>"Paul. I...I'm really sorry," she murmured softly. His eyes flew up to hers.</p><p>"Why? I thought you'd be pissed that...I mean it was before we realized, so I wasn't exactly ashamed of the lifestyle. I'm still not," he clarified purposefully, "but-"</p><p>"No, I know. Not that. I...I did that to you. I totally fucked up your life. Here I thought it was stupid you thinking that I'd ruin things for you, and I did, without even realizing it," she whispered, shuddering. "I turned you into something I never would have done willingly and now you have to live with it. I mean, I'm guessing there's no way to reverse it-"</p><p>Paul shook his head and took her hand. "Babe, you're missing the point. I didn't say a damn thing about reversing it. There's no way to do it, and I'm not exactly looking to. If anything, the claiming marks emphasize the bond that’s already there. I don't know exactly how this works, but I'm not pissed at you. If that were the case, we'd have killed you off and sucked up the consequences." His words were slightly disturbing, but she was beginning to see past the shock value to the real sincerity underneath. "You can’t go up and bite everyone and have this happen. There has to be that deeper connection. I don't want to hear any worries about you forcing us to be with you or you ruining or lives or shit. It happened. We'll deal. When you did sink your teeth into us...I'm guessing that's not something you'd go up and do to a guy," he worded carefully.</p><p>Jinny raised an eyebrow. "Paul, I get a panic attack trying to ask a guy out. Do you really think I'd go up and randomly bite people on the leg to get a point across?"</p><p>He smirked. "If that's the case then I know a security guard you're forever bound to - I'm kidding!" he laughed at her horrified look. "So you were compelled-"</p><p>"By alcohol. Or desperation," she muttered.</p><p>"Maybe on the surface, but there was something deeper.”</p><p>“A pull, yeah. Almost like a sudden compulsion,” she agreed.</p><p>“You wanted it and you know it," he murmured. </p><p>"Uh-huh. But how am I able to do that, if humans aren't supposed to? Is it because I'm not from here or what?"</p><p>Paul smirked slightly. "No, I think it's a lot simpler than that. You probably ended up here because of whatever bond is going on, but I didn't really think of it till you mentioned your leg. I had my suspicions before that, but if there was that type of bond then you aren't going to really have the ability to suddenly disappear from here. If it's as strong as what I'm thinking...well you're really stuck, Jin." He waited for her panic attack, but none came. She looked a little uneasy, but then again, it wasn't an easy change of events for anyone.</p><p>"So, what's with the leg?"</p><p>"That's why you could mark us, and why it only really worked for us. The wound wasn't deep, but if the blood absorbed the right way when it healed you-"</p><p>"It gave me that ability?" she mused. Paul nodded as her eyes grew larger. "And bonded me to you both.”</p><p>“Or made it official, at least. There’s always been rumor that some vampires fought mating bonds and got rid of their mates out of convenience, but that only really works before the marks are on. The claiming bites make it official. Before, theoretically a vampire could deal without their bond mate, though it would be rough for a while. There’s no going back after the marks are on. It can drive a vampire out of their mind to lose their mate after the claiming marks are done.”</p><p>“Oh God," she moaned, sliding her hand over her face.</p><p>"The joke's on all of us, I guess," he chuckled dryly. "So, it's not really your fault."</p><p>"And it's not really yours, either. You were trying to help," she sighed. "So, we're stuck like this."</p><p>Paul made a face and straightened slightly. "Thanks a lot-"</p><p>"You know what I mean!" she hissed. "I...it's not particularly bad for me, but for you guys-"</p><p>His look made her stop talking. "It's not bad for us. It's different. We'll get used to it. And I wouldn't call it stuck. Inevitable. I mean it's pretty wild that you ended up here and all of this just happened to fall into place, wouldn't ya say? Dwayne's right, fate doesn't make mistakes."</p><p>She nodded slowly. "So...that tingling in my leg...was that you marking me then?" she murmured, unable to finish the sentence.</p><p>Paul sighed. "That I don’t know. Maybe, though it probably doesn’t take the same way as an actual bite does.”</p><p>“So there’s still a chance-” </p><p>Paul shook his head. “Nah, because blood has been exchanged, I seriously doubt it’s reversible.” His tone clearly showed that he wasn’t going to entertain the notion. “What I don’t know is how your mark exactly functions, but I’m guessing it’s along the same lines.”</p><p>“So when I felt it…”</p><p>“I'm not sure he's figured out how big this is, Jin. Be fair. It's part of who we are."</p><p>Her face was unamused. "What, male whores?" she shot back before curling up tighter around the pillow. "One fucking day after we’re together and he goes off after someone else?! I actually believed all you said last night, and you never intended-"</p><p>She found herself flipped on her back, her vision filled with blue-grey anger. "We aren't sure how this is all gonna work, Jin. We aren't purposefully fucking you over! I don't like the thought of that, either, but I'm not sure I wouldn't do the same! It's really easy to get carried away on a hunt. We’re used to seducing victims to get them alone. It’s part of how we work," he sighed. "I told you, we're not nice guys."</p><p>"No kidding," she grumbled, staring numbly at the ceiling.</p><p>"I'm not going to fight about this. You're the one who just said you're sorry we inadvertently lost the lifestyle-"</p><p>"I'm supposed to let you screw around and feel it every time you do? That's great, Paul, just great."</p><p>"I didn't say that. But if it does happen, I would think that you'd be understanding." He sighed at her lack of reaction. "We don't fuck every chick we kill. And a lot of the times we go after guys, just because we can be rougher that way. We've torn apart the occasional chick, but it's not something we love doing. Think of it, Jin.  Some of us had sisters, do you really think we could do that and not think of what it would be like to have something like that happen to one of them? Hunting women takes a different touch," he reasoned.</p><p>"Uh-huh. I've heard some of the stories. You’re real princes-"</p><p>"Okay, yes, we can be bastards no matter what the sex of the victim. Yes, sometimes it's just about a good time. But that's what we are, Jin, living in the moment and doing what we do."</p><p>"I know," she said quietly. "And I don't want to change it, because it’s part of who you are. But it hurts, just the same." She shuddered at the hand on her spine and buried her face in the pillow.</p><p>"Think of it like this. There are sometimes if we get so crazed from hunger or the hunt or just are in that kind of a mood...Jinny, there are things that I've done with others that I would never put you through.  I don't want to find I've ripped you apart and have to heal you and see how broken you are because I was stupid."</p><p>"Then turn me and do what you want!" she hissed, growled, shaking against the pillow. </p><p>Paul's voice was quiet and right by her ear. "David would never allow it. And I wouldn't do it, not for that reason. I don't want to use you like that, even if you’re turned. I couldn't. You're not my whore or something. I may say stupid shit, I may like my games, but you're not some little pet to be yanked around and fucked over. I won't make you a vampire just so we can have an industrial-strength fuck toy. And I don't plan on going out every time I'm not with you and slutting around. But you have to understand that it happens."</p><p>She nodded silently. "So do I get to look around? "</p><p>He didn't mean to growl as loudly as he did, but it came out just the same. "You don’t feed from people. You won't need to. Between the two of us, you won't need anyone else."</p><p>"That's a fucking double standard!" she hissed, rolling over to glare at him. He winced when he saw how wet her cheeks were and how red her nose and eyes were turning. </p><p>"Jin, it's a part of what we are," he sighed, even though he knew it sounded lame. He just didn't know if he could give up what he liked, even though he hated the way she was taking it even more.</p><p>"I'm not asking you to be pussies," she sighed. "I just wish there was some way to meet in the middle."</p><p>Paul nodded and tugged her against him, frowning at how she shuddered in his grip. He'd come off sounding like a total hypocrite if he bitched out Dwayne, it was a tempting idea.  At the moment, he had a lot more to be concerned about.</p>
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<a name="section0039"><h2>39. Hello Walls</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Dwayne struggles to come to grips with the situation and his feelings.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dwayne snarled low in his throat as he bent to collect the wallets and any other useful spoils from the corpses, purposefully stepping on body parts as he headed towards the others.  He ignored their stares and snapped his fingers, acknowledging the cig David tossed him with a nod and a grunt of thanks. "Needed that. It's a good thing we live in California. If this were Kansas, I'd never be able to get a good meal," he muttered in flippant amusement as he brought his lighter to the small tube wedged between his lips. A soft glow popped to life at the end of the cig and the muscles in his shoulders and the back of his neck grew less taut. </p><p> </p><p>"Thought you were going your own way tonight," David pointed out from behind him.</p><p> </p><p>"You had more than enough here. The loss of one each isn't going to hurt either of you," Dwayne shot back, not bothering to turn and look at his packmates. His eyelids drooped slightly as he enjoyed the rush of nicotine, though the rest of him was tense enough to go another few rounds with anyone who crossed his path. He wouldn't. It would be a waste of blood if he didn't feed from it, but it was a hell of a temptation just the same. </p><p> </p><p>"I didn't say it would," David replied coolly. Usually that would be enough to at least make Dwayne calm down a degree or two, but at the moment he could've cared less about the leader's tone. He didn't need to hear the muffled whisk of the sand being cast aside to know that David was approaching, but it gave him a quiet satisfaction to realize that it was a sound no human could hear, let alone appreciate. "I don't mind you sharing a kill, but if you didn't see anything you liked on the Boardwalk then go find a professional to unruffle your feathers."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne turned with a fierceness that surprised the others, and while he wasn't in full vampire face his eyes bore the distinct fire of their kind. "I don't need a hooker!" he hissed, leaning in dangerously close to David. He didn't elaborate, instead sucked violently on the end of the cigarette. He could have forced the smoke up into David's face, but he turned and cast it towards the beach. David nodded once in approval of the show of respect, though it as obvious his friend was just barely holding it together. </p><p> </p><p>"Well you can't go back there until you're calmed down," Marko pointed out, effectively breaking the silent showdown. Dwayne's eyes flicked towards him, but he didn't back away, didn't relax his stance. "Give me a few to get some gear and I'll be back," the youngest added carefully before retreating up the beach, shaking his head. He was far from non-confrontational, but that sure as hell wasn't his battle to fight. </p><p> </p><p>David kept his eyes on Dwayne's face the whole time, watching each movement carefully. "Go get cleaned up," he finally said, nodding towards the water. "If she’s up when you get back she'll freak out if she sees you like that."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne shrugged. "She'll have to get used to it. It's what we are," he snapped. "You're not looking clean-cut at the moment, either."</p><p> </p><p>David let the comment roll of his back with a smirk, completely comfortable with his blood-smeared face and spattered clothes and hair. "I'm not the one climbing into bed with her covered with blood and smelling like the morning after with a high-end hooker." He made a face and shook his head. "That's why you don't <em>do</em>things like that when you're pissed off."</p><p> </p><p>"I'm fine," Dwayne grumbled, though he stalked down to the water and peeled off his clothes. "It never used to bug me before," he added.</p><p> </p><p>"You weren't thinking so much before," the blond replied as he made himself comfortable on the sand, busying himself with sucking the blood out from under his fingernails. "Was it better before or did you just not give a shit?" He didn't get an answer but he didn't need one. </p><p> </p><p>David glanced behind him at no particular noise, but within a few moments he saw Marko returning, a plastic sack in hand. The younger vampire flopped onto the sand and frowned when he noticed David staring at him. "What?"</p><p> </p><p>"You went to buy shit looking like that?" he asked, nodding to the crimson stains on Marko's shirt that were turning brown from setting in, and the scrapes and stains on his skin that made it looked like he had just come from a rough fight. Still, he didn't look at all forgettable.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm not stupid. I crashed a party," he admitted, smirking at David's grin when the older vampire took note of the new stains covering Marko's clothes.</p><p> </p><p>"Good job. What'd you get?" David asked and they both looked up as Dwayne approached from the water's edge, pausing to slide back into his pants.</p><p> </p><p>Marko shook his head as Dwayne sat beside them, still damp from the waves. "See, you've got it all wrong. This is when you need to go hunting. You'd have to peel chicks and more than a few dudes off of you looking like a drenched Calvin Klein model or something," he snorted, rolling his eyes at the growl he received. "Shut up," he shot back, bravado increased by the massive amount of blood he had recently consumed. "Here," he added, tossing his friend a particularly fat joint. David watched Dwayne light up and nodded in approval. The dark-haired vampire had been second to be turned. He would fight Paul and himself tooth and talon if he was pissed off, but he was usually less harsh on the youngest member, probably because Marko was usually amusing, meant well, and kept everyone well-supplied.</p><p> </p><p>Nevertheless, the youngest member of the group still waited until his friend had had a few good tokes before continuing. "Maybe you should just go back to the cave, anyway. Don't women dig that virile romance cover look?" he snickered, ducking the lighter that was flung towards his head. It wasn't until he sat back up and saw that Dwayne's eyes were glowing that he reined himself in. "Sorry, dude. Just a joke." The grunt he received in reply didn't bode well.</p><p> </p><p>"Enough with the chatter; what'd you get?" David muttered, snatching the sack to get a look. "Nice," he approved as he pulled out a few bottles of beer, a handful of joints, and a small bag of pills that certainly weren't Tylenol. "What kind of party did you crash? "</p><p> </p><p>Marko shrugged and accepted a beer, tossing a third to Dwayne. "You have to know where to look, is all. Figure if we're not going back right away we may as well get wasted."</p><p> </p><p>"A great sentiment if there ever was one," David agreed as he let the nail of his forefinger extend. The talon was deftly used in place of a bottle opener and he watched in silent bemusement as the cap soared above Marko's head before taking a swig. When he tipped down the bottle he took a good long look at Dwayne and sighed. "Usually you're a lot more fun after you get blood and pussy."</p><p> </p><p>"Didn't fuck her," Dwayne muttered as he opened his bottle, nearly sending the cap bouncing off David's forehead. He pursed his lips but didn't say a word, instead glancing at Marko who had a similar look on his face. "Didn't feed from her, either."</p><p> </p><p>The other two vampires frowned. "You let her go?"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne made a face before leaning his head back so he could peruse the night sky. "Shit, no. I killed her. Hated to waste it, but couldn't get the taste of her perfume away from the bite. Who the hell <em>does </em>that. It ruins a feed," he muttered before snatching at the plastic bag of goodies. </p><p> </p><p>Marko nodded his agreement. "No shit. You'd think they do it on purpose or something."</p><p> </p><p>"I still wanted to feed from her," Dwayne said quickly, answering the question that neither of them were about to ask. "By then I was just pissed off. If it hadn't been for that, her blood would've been mine."</p><p> </p><p>David nodded as he grabbed for the neglected lighter and lit up, carefully putting the situation together. "But you didn't..." A swift shake of the head was his answer. </p><p> </p><p>"Did you want to?" Marko asked carefully, unimpressed at the snarl he got in return. "Bro, we're trying to help you. This hasn't happened before, we need to know what's going on!"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne glanced out at the waves, momentarily wishing he was back out in them. He didn't swim very often, but it was a good excuse to get away from a situation and think things over, or forget about them and leave them drowned in the tide if need be. "Sure I did. It's what we do, what I've always done. She just...went at me like I was some notch on a garter belt. I couldn't decide if I wanted to put her in her place or tear her throat out. It was impersonal. A lot different from-" He stopped and grabbed for the bag of tablets. </p><p> </p><p>David shook his head and tugged it out of reach. "Slow down. All that after a feed is enough to send you out of your mind," he snapped.</p><p> </p><p>"Maybe that's where I want to be right now," Dwayne replied, one hand gripped around the bottle, the other smoothing up and down his leg. Marko said nothing, but checked to see that his knife was still in his jacket pocket and not in his twitching hand. </p><p> </p><p>"Well, I don't want to deal with it. Look, you just slaughtered how many guys, killed a chick you don't even know, and now we're getting trashed. You're not going soft-" David's eyes narrowed at Dwayne's snort.</p><p> </p><p>"Not it at all, man," he replied, and there was just a hint of dark satisfaction that the leader of the pack couldn't identify his source of irritation.</p><p>           </p><p>David counted to ten as he inhaled, savoring it before letting out a slow, stream of smoke. It was enough to keep him from blowing up. "Then would you tell us what the hell is going on? Why are you being such a shit to me tonight?" His tone and his sharp glare were usually enough to get victims to curl into a ball and his packmates to check their attitudes at the door when it came down to it. But Dwayne just looked him coolly in the eye, his hand smoothing across the sand to where his jacket lay.</p><p> </p><p>"Because it's your fault. You screwed me over, David." Marko cursed under his breath at Dwayne's simple challenge. His poise was deceptive. Though he was leaning back on his elbows and smirking nonchalantly, the youngest knew very well that he'd be able to spring in less than a heartbeat. </p><p> </p><p>"That's a loaded accusation, Dwayne," the blond remarked as he shoved his bottle into the sand so it wouldn't topple over. His tone was flippant and there was a slight smile on his face, as well, but he also sat up and leaned in. "You wanna take your hand off your knife and let me in on this before you do something stupid?"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne didn't move, didn't take his hand from his jacket as he watched David who remained just as posed, just as tense in case the other would choose to attack.</p><p> </p><p>"If you two are going to have a pissing contest I'm going to finish the rest of this," Marko muttered, grabbing the sack of tablets from David's clenched hand. "This is stupid," he added as they both turned to glare at him. "We all you know like her, we all know you're not going soft, so what the hell's the problem?" He shook his head and popped one of the pills in his mouth before settling back down for the show at hand.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne's sigh of disgust was enough to reign in David's anger. "Something happened with the girl." His face was thoughtful but he was still perched forward, waiting.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne nodded and paused to switch from bottle to joint. "I kept thinking of Jin. And the bitch tried to bite me where-"</p><p> </p><p>"Christ," David muttered, shaking his head. "No wonder you're cranky." He smirked at Marko's questioning face. "So it’s not just a mating bond. Fuck, this complicates things if it’s already gone to that level. Our boy's got a brand on him," he quipped, grinning as Marko managed to keep a snort of laughter muffled by his beer bottle. "Paul too," he added, smirking as Dwayne continued to fume.</p><p> </p><p>"Shit, reign in both of the ladies' men why don't you," Marko chuckled.</p><p> </p><p>"Not funny," Dwayne snapped. "You <em>knew</em>!" he murmured, focusing back on the pack leader. At David's single nod he hissed through his teeth. "I knew it, I knew you wouldn't give her to both of us for no reason."</p><p> </p><p>"I didn't make her go up and sink her teeth into you!" David shot back, irritation plain on his face. "And it was the smart thing to do. What am I going to do, deny one of you and have everything fuck up when one of you goes crazy?"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, well you know she's going to end up choosing him," Dwayne muttered. "And I can't even focus on a casual fuck with anyone else. I'm screwed.”</p><p> </p><p>David nodded in understanding. "I didn't do that to screw you over. It's part of the package. I'm sure if you really wanted to you could bang ten thousand chicks on the side, but it doesn't sound like you want to. Those marks are a pain in the ass, but from what little I know they’re not God."</p><p> </p><p>The dark-haired vampire leaned forward and picked at the sand in front of him, slowly releasing his hold on his jacket. David relaxed slightly. "No, I don’t want to, but I don't really have a choice."</p><p> </p><p>"Look. We may harass you, but you're cool. You don't have to worry about your fucking image. And I wouldn't worry about your chances yet. That bond is stronger than you think," he added, watching the dismissal on the other's face with interest.</p><p> </p><p>"Why would it be? She's the one who bit us." </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, I guess you're right. Unless there was something else that may have...influenced things," the leader added carefully, though his face was innocent enough.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne frowned and tried to recall the events from their coupling, but neither of them had made a mark on her, no matter how badly the vampire part of him had wanted to.</p><p> </p><p>Since the dark-haired vampire admitted to nothing David let it drop. "You're going to be fine."</p><p> </p><p>"I have no fucking clue what I'm doing," he sighed, tipping his bottle back as far as he could before he tossed it away.</p><p> </p><p>"Look, you've seduced to make a kill and get laid, right? Now you're just seducing to get laid and keep her around. The only difference is you can't kill her and you have to let her in," Marko pointed out, laying back on his elbows with a dreamy expression as the pill started to kick in. “If it’s that big a deal, you need to get her to the point where she’ll let you bite her, so you’ve got to open up.”</p><p> </p><p>"I learned my lesson before I got my teeth. That's a very bad idea," Dwayne admitted, drawing abstract patterns in the sand with a fingertip. "I've never hurt for attention in my life. Most women aren't going to pass up a good-looking guy," he went on, and there was no real hint of vanity when he said it. The others watched him silently with only a small bit of surprise. He had become more open towards them since he had joined, though he still had a talent for keeping deeper emotions close to his chest. "And that's fine, it's a lot of fun and I'm all for that, but I found out real quick they only want what they can get. I'm just as bad at doing what I have to so I get what I want, but you never let your guard down, never let them in, because then they'll just keep using it to get more. And you learn never to expect more than the obvious."</p><p> </p><p>Marko nodded his agreement, though his lethargic hand motions made him look like a philosopher that was really stoned. "Yeah, girls know how to hurt. They seem to have a degree in that at times. You're not saying anything we haven't been through at one time or another, bro." He paused, taking in Dwayne's introverted expression, slowly suspecting that there was more to that confession than they'd get to hear, at least while they were hanging out in a group. "There are always gonna be shallow people, man, but I don't think Jinny's one of them." </p><p> </p><p>"She's scared and has a right to be. If you really want to be close to her, if you want that intimacy, then you're going to have to let her in a little. It'll open her up and make her feel less overwhelmed. And if you just want the sex and can live with it the way things are now...well, I'm sure Paulie could fill in the rest, and if he can’t, she’ll learn to deal with what she can get. She’s not stupid," David couldn't help but add, though Dwayne had calmed enough to just make a face.  "You'll be fine," he reassured the other vamp, the slight smile on his mouth enough to announce that there would be no bloodshed, no fighting, no hard feelings.</p><p> </p><p>"Sure, whatever," Dwayne muttered, leaning forward towards the grocery sack. "Come on, hook me up, I need it tonight."</p><p> </p><p>Marko glanced at David before slowly reaching in the bag. "I have just the thing. One of the best-kept secrets by women everywhere. This'll cheer you right up," he promised, smirking at the blank look on the faces of the other two. With a flourish, he produced a king-sized chocolate bar and passed it to Dwayne. His unamused face spoke volumes.</p><p> </p><p>"Alright, I'll take the bait. Why?" he finally said, flipping it over in his hands before looking up at the other two.</p><p> </p><p>Marko’s grin nearly lit up the darkened beach. "Well I figure if it'll work for women when they're acting like moody bitches, it can probably apply to you," he explained, throwing himself out of the way when Dwayne lunged at him. The two were on their feet and raced towards the bikes, Marko just barely keeping ahead of Dwayne's long strides, his gasping laughter getting lost beneath the rolling of the waves. David chuckled and collected what they hadn't used before slowly following, shaking his head as he watched Dwayne's silhouette head towards the waves, a thrashing Marko tossed over his shoulder.</p>
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<a name="section0040"><h2>40. Wild Boys</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Paul confronts Dwayne about just how deep they're in it</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>On any given night, they would have hidden their bikes and flown right into the cave, but it was a first to get near the entrance and see a silhouette waiting for them. Even from a fair distance they would recognize Paul's casual stance, which was even odder given that it was getting close to sunrise. His face was strangely broody, though his lip twitched upon inspecting the arrival of the other vampires.</p><p> </p><p>"What happened to you?" he asked, snickering as Marko stalked by him, hair and clothes drenched and plastered to skin that was covered in a good coating of sand. The shorter vampire made a face.</p><p> </p><p>"Ask the one who's pms-ing," he countered, quickening his steps as he neared the entrance.</p><p> </p><p>Paul shook his head, a bemused grin briefly showing around the cig as he took in the chocolate that was smeared all through Marko's hair, along with bits of torn wrapper. "Dude, you look like you just got into a gang war with Milton Hershey!" he called after Marko, who didn't even stop walking as he flipped Paul off on his way inside.</p><p> </p><p>"He learned it's a really bad idea to offer Dwayne chocolate," David snickered from around the joint clenched between his lips, pausing to shove the bag of leftover's into Paul's midsection as he slunk into the cave. "Have the feeling you're going to be needing that."</p><p> </p><p>Paul glanced at the contents with interest before he looked back up to see Dwayne heading toward the cave entrance. His friend had a slightly brooding look to him, though the rest of him was somewhat disheveled, but it didn't appear to be from a kill. The blond shook his head while leaning over to brush rogue sand off Dwayne's shoulder, raising a brow at the way his hair was rumpled. "Why do you look like you just came from a photo shoot gone way wrong?" he asked, blinking as Marko and David's laughter and catcalls erupted from behind him, dwindling as they went further inside. </p><p>           </p><p>Dwayne rolled his eyes to the sky and muttered under his breath. "Long ass story."</p><p> </p><p>Paul tilted his head as he assessed his friend with a cool gaze. "I bet I can guess the gist of it. You smell clean, but you sure look like you've had a good time." </p><p> </p><p>Dwayne's brows knit together as he tried to make sense of the line of conversation, his eyes alert as they gauged the other's reaction carefully. Paul had known he had been going hunting. Why the hell would he be pissed about something he'd go out and do in a heartbeat? He nodded in agreement, unable to keep the sarcasm from lacing his voice. "Sure, that's it. I had a real good time, real romantic. Killed a few jocks, lifted a few wallets, and then I dunked Marko in the ocean for being a moron," he snapped, jaw tensing when Paul didn't seem satisfied.</p><p> </p><p>"You're awful wet, bud," the blond pointed out, not bothering to turn his head as he blew out a steady stream of smoke.</p><p> </p><p>"I rinsed off after the kill. Didn't think it'd be great for me to come back smelling like..." He trailed off, unable to carefully choose the right words. His patience was starting to wear and Paul was still looking at him like he was some kind of traitor. </p><p> </p><p>"Been drinkin'?" he sneered, his mouth still twisted in a grimace. It wasn't an expression the easy-going Paul usually had on his face and it distorted the very idea of how he normally acted.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, for fuck's sake!" Dwayne shouted, one hand gripping the back of his head in frustration. "I'm not going to stand out here and play twenty-questions until dawn! If you're going to accuse me of something, come on and do it!"</p><p> </p><p>The blond pushed away from the side of the cave entrance and stepped into the other vampire's personal space, releasing his hold on the bag David had shoved into his grip. Neither vampire watched it fall to the ground. "You were with a woman." It was a simple statement but Paul's tone was all steel and disappointment.</p><p> </p><p>"You wanted me out of your hair," Dwayne replied, eyeing the placement of the other's hands, the stance of his body as he slowly sidestepped around Paul. "You knew what I was going out to do. I bet you're even envious," he added, taking comfort in the way his jacket pocked nudged his waist so he could just barely feel the weight of his knife tucked inside. </p><p> </p><p>Something in Paul's face weakened briefly, but then the set of his mouth tightened and he followed Dwayne's sidestep so that he remained in front of him. "Was she hot?"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne stared his friend down coolly for a few silent moments before a slow sneer curled his mouth. "Gorgeous. Willing and she knew just what to do. She was all tan and ebony-haired, had eyes that could suck out a man's soul, and a full mouth," he taunted. It didn't get by him that Paul's cool stand faltered imperceptibly and that there was the spark of interest in his eyes even though he was doing his damndest to fight it. </p><p> </p><p>"Was she good?" It was obvious that it was meant to be a taunt, but Paul's voice came out tainted with rough curiosity, and the wrinkle of his nose proved he knew it. "Better than what you have down there?" he added, nodding towards the cave entrance, his voice hardening. "Because if you're going to pull that shit every fucking night, I'll stake my claim here and now," he added, defiance sparking deep in his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>One dark eyebrow raised at the statement. "You think you'll be able to resist all the fun times you're so addicted to?" Dwayne snorted, smirking as he took the offensive. "You may mean well, but you think you'll be able to resist having your head turned every time you go to the Boardwalk? How about if you're out hunting and along comes something in a little skirt that just looks damn tasty," he drawled, leaning forward until Paul was nearly back against the cliff again. His blue eyes flickered ever-so-slightly from Dwayne's hard gaze, prompting him to slide one tanned arm up against the stone his friend was pressed up against.</p><p> </p><p>Paul was so still that it was obvious he was purposefully trying not to react to the words. "I know you have a weakness for a chick who can work a lot of leg," Dwayne went on with a sadistic grin. "You really think she won't see you checking that out? You think you can keep yourself locked in your pants when you go to taste someone's blood? It'd be really easy to take a little taste of some other things, wouldn't it Paul?" he taunted.</p><p> </p><p>"I can still try my damndest," Paul shot back, eyes locked on Dwayne's, but taking in every other part of the other vampire in his peripheral vision. His fingers were clenching his cigarette so hard that it crushed inward under the force of his knuckles. With a disgusted look, Paul tossed it to the ground, grinding it out with hard jerks of his foot.</p><p> </p><p>When he returned his eyes to Dwayne's the other vampire was serious again, though there was a sympathetic glimmer in his eyes along with the anger. "You'll fail. We both will. Even if neither of us sink a cock into any of them, we'll still be tempted to touch a little, taste a little, nuzzle up just a little, or pinch just a little harder to get that scream that sounds so good before you sink your teeth in," Dwayne reasoned. "No matter how hard we try, we're not going to ever be saints and you know it. " He watched his friend's resolve crumble as he recognized the truth in his words. </p><p> </p><p>When he saw the brief sign of weakness Dwayne took the initiative, sliding his other hand to cage in Paul's face against the stone of the cave, full knowing that the gesture pissed off the other vampire to know end.  It was perfect for the intimidation of a weak human male or the seduction of a female victim. Doing that to a fellow vampire was not only asserting a whole lot of dominance but subliminally treating him like a lesser being. When Paul's eyes narrowed to slits and his hands clenched in and out of fists Dwayne leaned in another few inches for good measure. "And if you think you can cut me out, go on and try. Probably have a good chance of it, too. Damn smart to want to take your turn first," he added, shaking his head in disgust. "I thought we were in this together. Now I don't even have a chance. What did you do, sweep her off her feet, promise her some shit that isn't even possible, talk yourself up and me down since I wasn't around?"</p><p>           </p><p>The frown that spread across Paul's mouth was genuine, though so was his silent fury at being penned in. He purposefully kept his chin high, his back erect against the cave behind him, forcing himself not to slide down the wall as Dwayne leaned in just a little more.  "Dude, I wouldn't do that. We talked, for the most part. There's a lot for her to take in, she has a lot of questions and I know just as much as anyone else," he added upon getting a slightly miffed look from the brown eyes in front of him. As soon as he saw Dwayne's face soften he pushed his arm upward, trying to break away. One tan hand easily clasped his wrist, pushing it back against the stone as he bared his teeth in warning. "I'm not the one screwing some random girl as soon as you leave the cave!" Paul hissed, quickly jerking his hand free when his verbal blow struck home.  "I just hope she was worth it," he added, making a face as he pushed away from the wall, rubbing his wrist.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne slowly assessed the truth in his friend's words and shrugged. "I wouldn't know." Paul froze and turned, and the confusion on his face would have been comical had they not been ready to go for each other's throats. "I didn't fuck her."</p><p> </p><p>The blond slowly looked up from his own wrist, judging the truth to the other's words. "You really didn't?"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne sighed. "Started to. She was hot and I wanted it, wanted to see if it was even possible. But it was all wrong. It was like being with a machine, too intense and nothing behind it. She looked hot, but she was cold, not soft and warm like-" He cut himself off with a shake of his head, turning to lean up against the exterior cave wall before sliding down to sit on the ground, sighing heavily.  "I couldn't stop thinking about how different it was with her. And she tried to bite me and I couldn't take it. I didn't want her mouth anywhere near where I was marked." Paul winced, his own fingers drifting to the side of his neck to rub over the invisible hickey. "She started to suck me, but it was like being blown by a vacuum cleaner on a schedule and her mind was just vile," he added, snorting. "I killed her, but the joke was on me. Stupid girl used so much perfume and hairspray, it kept tainting the blood."</p><p> </p><p>Paul gave a low whistle as he carefully moved to Dwayne's side. "That really sucks, I hate it when they overdo it. But you <em>could </em>feed from her?"</p><p> </p><p>Brown eyes glanced up at Paul, filled with bitter humor and dismissal. "Yeah, that was no problem. And I think I could have done more, but it would take a hell of a strong will to go all the way. But I don't know if I won't every time I go out to hunt," he added softly. "It's the way we are. This is a strong leash, but who knows if it's got total control over shit like that."</p><p> </p><p>Paul nodded. "Yeah, I see what you're saying. And I don't know that I wouldn't have done worse," he admitted, slumping down to sit by his friend when Dwayne didn't go back on the offensive. "Just seeing her cry like that...shit, man, it's enough to make you feel like you didn't have the fangs. I hate feeling helpless like that." </p><p> </p><p>Dwayne looked up sharply, his voice rising with each question. "Jinny was crying? What the hell happened? Is she gonna be okay, why the fuck did you leave her?"</p><p> </p><p>The look in Paul's eyes was slightly sad and slightly sardonic. "She felt you getting on that girl, bud."</p><p> </p><p>"How the hell did that happen?" The news was like a sharp jab to the stomach or particularly bad blood. </p><p> </p><p>"Her leg. When we healed it, the blood must've done something and sealed her to us-"</p><p> </p><p>"And that's how she was able to mark us, that and the bond," Dwayne finished, shaking his head in slow disbelief. "Holy shit. No wonder David asked if there was more that had happened than her just biting us. Hell, he probably knew." He grimaced as he considered the situation. "I didn't even go all the way."</p><p> </p><p>"Apparently, that doesn't matter," Paul sighed, his nod affirming that he, too, realized how deep they were in it.</p><p> </p><p>"Any way to block her feeling it?" Dwayne reasoned, knowing it was a lofty hope.</p><p> </p><p>"Probably not. The whole intention of those marks was to keep an eye on your mate," Paul sighed, looking at his hands. "Look, I'm sorry. It was total shit for me to say that to you. I just saw her lose it and I snapped."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne nodded, relaxing as he clapped his friend on the shoulder. "I know. It's okay. I was pissed because of how tight you two seemed, but now it looks like I've really done it."</p><p> </p><p>"She wants to accept it. She tries, but...."</p><p> </p><p>"It isn't a fair trade," Dwayne agreed. </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah," Paul murmured as he leaned his head back, staring at nothing. "She wanted me to turn her so she could take it if we were rougher on her. Thought it would even things out," he whispered, not moving at the hiss that came from his friend.</p><p> </p><p>"No way. Not for that reason, anyway."</p><p> </p><p>"That's what I said. Too soon, at any rate. And not our choice to make."</p><p> </p><p>A humorless smile twitched on Dwayne's mouth. "Yeah. I mean she didn’t even want us biting her yet.”</p><p> </p><p>“That’s gonna have to happen before she leaves the cave,” Paul pointed out. “I don’t care how archaic it sounds or what the thing on her leg does. I won’t feel right with her wandering around until it’s done properly.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I know, I feel the same. The vampire in me keeps losing its mind at how uneven things feel,” Dwayne sighed. “But we can’t exactly force that on her yet, not with how scared she was. First we've got to survive just being with each other before we get to that. Then we can eventually start thinking about...forever," he managed, and even his cool exterior resembled something of an animal caught at the wrong end of a gun.</p><p>           </p><p>"Shit, don't <em>say</em>things like that!" Paul groaned. "One day at a time, man. She even asked if she could look around to even things out." A smirk jumped across Paul's mouth at Dwayne's immediate 'Hell no!' "My thoughts exactly, and that’s why we need to seal the deal and sink teeth in sooner than later, because obviously our blood didn’t fully do the job if she’s thinking about shopping ‘round without twinging. But there's no easy way to change how we're wired. She's just going to have to get used to it," he decided with a shrug.</p><p> </p><p>"I guess. That's kind of cruel, though, if she'll always be feeling it. We'll just have to make up for it as much as we can," Dwayne reasoned, though when they looked at each other they knew they were just making excuses. "She okay?"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, she's sleeping right now. I didn't wanna leave her, but I figured it'd better be settled in private. Though it looks like there's nothing to settle," Paul admitted. </p><p> </p><p>Dwayne nodded. "You can have another night. I need to think on how I'm going to work this," he murmured. </p><p> </p><p>"She likes you, Dwayne. She just...I think she gets scared when she can't see what's going on," Paul sighed, glancing longingly at the bag of goodies that lay on the ground. He began to reach for the torn plastic handle but paused, his extended hand moving up to his neck with a quick jerk. "What the hell?" </p><p>           </p><p>Dwayne winced at the flare of pain up the side of his throat, already standing. "More intense than before," he agreed, frowning as he took sudden interest in the fact that it was only them outside the cave. "They wouldn't..."</p><p> </p><p>Paul shook his head, already heading inside with Dwayne right behind him. "I don't think so. And she wouldn't. But then why-"</p><p> </p><p>His hypotheses were cut off by a scream that was shrill enough to affect their enhanced hearing the way a dog whistle would freak out a skittish poodle. Both looked to the other before pushing into the cave and taking to the air.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0041"><h2>41. It Ain't Easy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>A misunderstanding in the cave, Jinny stands her ground, and everyone realizes the rhythms of regular life are going to get weirder.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ugh, i was going to wait with this, but I love this part *so much*, I just can't resist. And we need a little levity after all the angst. So enjoy! Comments and kudos always welcome!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The first thing on Paul's mind was that he was going to kill whoever tried to hurt her. In contrast, Dwayne was plotting ways to geld whichever one of his supposed friends even touched her in a way that violated their agreement. Both knew that if that scream had come from pleasure and not fear or pain, well, all bets were off. </p><p> </p><p>It took seconds for both to realize that the sense of danger had dropped and the low pain in their necks had downgraded to an irritation. If that didn't clue them in that something else was afoot, David's prolific cursing finished the job.</p><p> </p><p>"God dammit woman! Fuck, stop it! Will you-" he sputtered, and both vampires paused at the railing to take in the sight of their leader dropping to his knees near the old fountain. No, he was dodging the objects that came hurtling around the side of the thing every time he tried to move. </p><p> </p><p>"Jinny, Christ!" Marko howled, wincing when a bottle of body wash caught him right between the eyes. "Cut it out!" Paul winced as another bottle was caught by one branch of the candelabra, the old metal apparently still able to puncture thin plastic.</p><p> </p><p>"Man, that was the good stuff, too," the blond sighed, shaking his head. Dwayne smirked when Jinny's head briefly appeared over the far side of the candelabra when Marko again pleaded for her to cease fire. Furious would have been a tame word for the look on her face. </p><p> </p><p>"Hell no! That's what you get for looking at me naked-"</p><p> </p><p>"Calm down, we didn't see anyth- son of a bitch!" David bit out, flattening himself on the ground as wrapped soaps began zinging through the air as soon as he tried to creep round the fountain. Neither vampire was willing to try to draw her fire, and with an arm like that, neither Paul nor Dwayne blamed them. </p><p>"How the hell were we to know you'd be out here! Besides, we didn't see a thing!" Marko shouted and attempted to sneak around the side of the fountain the moment she turned to fling a bar of soap at David. A shriek and a curse let them know how well that went before she jumped up onto the fountain's lip, running towards their viewpoint, doing her best to duck the branches of the candelabra that could have easily maimed her if she wasn't careful.</p><p> </p><p>"Back off, Fang. Close your damn eyes, I'll get my stuff, and life'll be dandy," she snarled, turning her backside to the two voyeurs. Paul raised an eyebrow and glanced at his best friend. While Dwayne seemed amused, it was evident that he wasn't about to let the show continue for long. </p><p> </p><p>"And have you run out? Not likely!" David snapped back, his face appearing and reappearing on the far side of the candelabra so fast it was comical. Dwayne chuckled and easily vaulted the railing, his powers allowing a smooth descent to the ground below. Smirking as he took one last look at her exposed ass, Paul followed suit.</p><p> </p><p>She was using one arm to cradle her ammunition and clumsily cover her breasts while the other moved between throwing the objects and moving to cover the valley between her legs any time either vampire looked close to letting their eyes fall on her. "Well I'm not stopping until you look away!" she growled, backing up to the pile of clothing bags that were heaped near David's chair.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne slowly came up behind her, his mind working to smooth down her anxiety as he reached out and placed a hand on the back of her shoulder. She stiffened and spun, dropping her ammunition as her arm stretched out with hand flattened as it sailed for his throat with enough force to break a human windpipe. He cursed and grabbed her wrist as it came near, eyebrows raised at her pale face. Apparently, she was more wound up than he had thought. "Just us. Calm down!" he urged, relaxing as her breathing evened out. "You're lucky we heal quick, you could've done a number on me if I was a regular guy, Jin," he managed He couldn't tell if she was shaking out of fear or because she was that damn cold. Either seemed a likely possibility.  She glanced over shoulder as Paul came up beside them, an embarrassed cast to his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"Shit, I'm sorry, Jin. I never finished bringing all that in. I didn't think," he admitted. Her reply was a shrug and a grunt before she quickly looked to find where the other two had gotten to.</p><p> </p><p>"You okay?" Dwayne asked, squeezing her wrist. Her head whipped round and she fixed a hard glare at him before yanking her arm back. He fought the sigh and shed his jacket. She let him help her slide into it, but backed away once he had zipped the front closed, not paying a lick of attention to either of her mates. The coat didn’t quite cover everything if she was really moving, but it was a hell of an improvement. Dwayne froze as he studied her. The sleeves went well over her hands and the hem went down to the base of her ass. A surge of possessiveness swelled at the sight of her in his clothes, along with something else. <em>That may be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen</em>, he realized, and fought to regain control of his derailed thoughts.</p><p> </p><p>"Why the hell are you asking her? We're the victims here," David growled, rubbing his shoulder as he and Marko both came into view. "All we did was come in and start winding down for the morning-"</p><p> </p><p>"You scared the shit out of me!" Jinny snapped, arms wrapped around herself protectively.</p><p>           </p><p>"Calm down, babe," Paul soothed, resting a hand on her shoulder. She glared at him, but didn't move his hand from her. He quickly glanced over to his friend and cringed at the defeated look on Dwayne's face. "Now what happened? How did you even get back here?"</p><p> </p><p>"That's what I'd like to know," David snapped as he came up beside them.</p><p> </p><p>"Took the camping lantern," she mumbled, nodding to the device she had left near the tunnel. "Followed the salt that flaked off Paul's feet," she admitted. "It's hard to see against the ground but if you look close enough it shines against the light."</p><p> </p><p>Marko gave a low whistle. "Smart move."</p><p> </p><p>"And I <em>wasn’t </em>trying to get away," she continued, making a face at David's glare. To the boys' amusement he copied the face right back at her, prompting an eye roll from the redhead. "I got cold and Paul said he had to get the rest of the things from in here. I figured I'd save him the trouble.”</p><p> </p><p>"And you couldn't have just called out at the tunnel entrance and asked us to bring you something?" Marko asked, rubbing his forehead.</p><p> </p><p>"And risk have you two making a total fool out of me?" she snapped.</p><p> </p><p>"You don't <em>need </em>us to make a fool out of you. You do great on your own!" David shot back. Paul grabbed her arm when she dove for another bar of soap.</p><p> </p><p>"Besides, I didn't see them," she muttered.</p><p> </p><p>Marko nodded. "That's true. We were too busy listening in on you fightin'," he chuckled, ducking when Paul picked up the soap and hurled it at the younger vampire.</p><p> </p><p>"All we heard was someone messing around," David sighed, slowly getting where things had gone wrong.</p><p> </p><p>"And thought she was an intruder," Dwayne finished in understanding.</p><p> </p><p>"But you didn't see me come from the entrance," she pointed out as she stared down at them.</p><p> </p><p>David shrugged. "Doesn't matter. Instinct is instinct. We're not used to having you around yet, we're charged from the hunt, I smelled a human and..."</p><p> </p><p>"And she flipped out because you two look like you've come from a buffet," Paul mused.</p><p> </p><p>"No kidding. That is not a happy sight coming at you at full speed," Jinny muttered, shifting away when Dwayne moved in toward her.</p><p> </p><p>"And here you were worried about me," the dark-haired vampire snorted, taking just a little bit of satisfaction at the unamused look on David's face.</p><p> </p><p>"We weren't doing it on purpose, Jinny," Marko pointed out. "And once we saw it was you we did back off."</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes narrowed. "Sure, once you looked at me naked!"</p><p> </p><p>David rolled his eyes. "You didn't give us a chance to see anything. We're lucky you throw like a girl or else Marko would have skull damage," he taunted. He smirked when she rushed towards him and was pulled back by Paul. "Besides, we wouldn't <em>want </em>to see what you've got."</p><p> </p><p>"Like you'd ever get to," she shot back, her own expression one of disgust. </p><p> </p><p>"Okay, okay! Look, we're all tired," Paul sighed, fisting a hand in his hair. "We'll do better to look before we lunge, and you don't walk around naked in the main cavern."</p><p> </p><p>"I didn't do it on purpose!!" she hissed, arms flaiming in frustration, the ends of Dwayne’s sleeve flopping in emphasis.</p><p> </p><p>Paul fought the smile at how adorable the oversized clothing made her look, even if she was fuming. "I know, babe, but it looks like all of you screwed up." He nodded his head towards his brothers and her lips clamped together so hard that her mouth nearly disappeared.</p><p> </p><p>"Fine. It was a mistake. I'm sorry I went crazy on you," she sighed. David nodded in smug approval.</p><p> </p><p>Marko nodded. "I didn't mean to scare the crap out of you, Jinny, seriously. I'm really sorry if I made it seem like I'd take any liberties." She nodded before casting a glance to the leader.</p><p> </p><p>"I accept your apology," he replied, smirking as she spun towards Dwayne and Paul.</p><p> </p><p>"He's being difficult!!!" she snarled, pointing at him with the end of a sleeve as if they were siblings and she was ratting him out to her parents.</p><p> </p><p>"He doesn't have to apologize. He's the leader," Dwayne reluctantly explained, wincing as she spun her back to him with a huff.</p><p> </p><p>"Well that's wonderful," she growled, pointedly stepping away when Dwayne took a step into her space. "Let me tell you how much I love the pecking order around here. Truly, it's fantastic. I can't have my own space, can't get my own clothes, don't get a decent apology, and on top of all that I get to know that I'm being literally screwed over!" she hissed, though this time her dark look was all-inclusive. </p><p> </p><p>"Shit," Marko gulped, ducking out of range as he hopped up onto the lip of the fountain.</p><p> </p><p>David slowly followed suit. "Told ya. It's like the fights on pay per view," the older vampire muttered, his voice low enough so Jinny wouldn't hear.</p><p> </p><p>"Nah, those aren't as bloody," Marko pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>"Come on, Jinny, we talked about this," Paul cajoled. Dwayne's eyebrow shot up at that little bit of information. It struck him that her fury wasn't just directed at him. Paul growled under his breath when she backed away, though the blond tried to follow her. "Baby-"</p><p> </p><p>"Oh no, don't you baby, honey, kitten, or whatever other stupid pet names you have me!!" she growled, long sleeves flopping in anger as she windmilled her arms for emphasis. "Don't you <em>dare </em>try to sweet talk me! I don't know what's worse, feeling <em>him </em>get on some random girl just because it makes the blood better," she snarled, nodding towards Dwayne, "or having to listen to <em>you</em> stick up for him and legitimize it!" she added, leveling her glare at Paul, her expression as angry as the large cat on Dwayne’s coat.</p><p> </p><p>"I told you, it's just the way-"</p><p> </p><p>"Just the way you are. Right. Perfect," she snorted, rolling her eyes. "Well everyone knows women have a thing for chocolate, but you don't see me masturbating with a Baby Ruth before I eat it, do you?" </p><p> </p><p>David turned towards Marko in hopes that it would help him keep a straight face. Unfortunately, the younger vampire was having as much trouble keeping his composure.</p><p> </p><p>"That's awesome. I need to write that down! Shit, why do I never have a pen when I need one?" he complained as he patted down his pockets.</p><p> </p><p>"You'll remember it, believe me," David muttered, eyes riveted to the carnage in front of him.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't you think it's a little convenient that all of you are going to stick up for each other and I have <em>no one </em>to back me up?" she snapped, shaking the more she thought about things. "Four against one might as well make it law, right? And isn't it wonderful that it all tips in your favor. You get to be bad boys, you get whoever you want, and you got some sort of wonky virgin sacrifice to go with it!" she hissed, snapping her head around at the choking noises that came from the fountain.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh fuck. Please, <em>please </em> tell me she wasn't..." Marko managed, his eyes wide as he looked at his two friends in horror. He got his answer from Jinny's raised eyebrows. He tactfully waited until she turned back around to continue. "And they...oh holy shit how dumb can you be?" he moaned, his sympathy for them gone.</p><p> </p><p>"No kidding. This isn't going to be pretty," David agreed, glancing to the youngest. "Fifty bucks on Dwayne and Paulie."</p><p> </p><p>Marko snorted. "I'll take that. She may be human, but she's got her womanly weirdness and anger issues on her side. I'll put my money on Killer," he agreed, shaking David's hand. They both returned to watching the threesome, one of whom was quickly gathering up clothing bags while cursing under her breath.</p><p> </p><p>"Jin, you know that's not true," Dwayne hissed, pushing Paulie out of the way, trying damn hard to not focus on how the jacket slid up her ass every time she bent over to pick up something. Jinny paused and slowly stood at her full height, tilting her head as she stared down the vampire. Any other day he would have full advantage, but for once she didn't have a problem meeting his gaze.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh shit. Get out of there. Just run,' David groaned.</p><p> </p><p>"Was she pretty?" she asked softly, her face not changing with her tone.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne shrugged. "She was alright-"</p><p>           </p><p>"Wrong answer you idiot!" David hissed, cringing.</p><p> </p><p>"Great, so if you go after someone else it's not even because they're gorgeous, it’s just because they're there," she snapped.</p><p> </p><p>"Atta girl! You take 'em down!" Marko crowed, pumping his fist in the air when he was sure that they wouldn't see. </p><p> </p><p>"Come on. Fight back!" the leader growled under his breath.</p><p> </p><p>"Or was she that good?" Jinny asked, arms curling around herself. "Was that it? One night with me and you need to go find someone who can do it right?"</p><p> </p><p>"I didn't even fuck her," Dwayne shot back, effectively shutting her up momentarily.</p><p> </p><p>"Yes, finally!" David laughed, eyes glittering as the tide seemed to turn.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh...I didn't...wait a minute," she managed, looking at him closely. "So why did my leg...what <em>did </em>you do?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul cleared his throat. "Babe, it isn't really important if they didn't-"</p><p> </p><p>"Shut. Up." Her hazel eyes snapped as she regarded Dwayne. "I want to hear it from you. Did you kiss her?" she asked, eyes narrowing when his face gave nothing away. "Did you kiss her like you did me, all slow and deep? Did you rub up against her? Play with her tits, maybe?" she cajoled.</p><p> </p><p>"Stay quiet, man. Keep your mouth shut," David chanted under his breath.</p><p> </p><p>"You look a little frustrated. Did she not give back? Or did she not give you enough?" Jinny taunted, stepping into Dwayne's field of vision when he tried to look away.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh for - okay, yes we made out, yes she tried to blow me but just went at it like a machine, then I killed her, ok?" he snarled, glaring up at the groans that came from the peanut gallery.</p><p> </p><p>"You said you <em>hated </em>what women like that did to you!" Jinny hissed, the hurt in her eyes unmistakable as her arms wrapped the long sleeves about herself.</p><p> </p><p>"Well I wasn't going to get anything else for a while-"</p><p> </p><p>"And that's <strong><em>my </em></strong>fault?!" she shrieked.</p><p> </p><p>"No! Will you stop twisting everything?" Dwayne shouted back, striding toward her, smiling when she took a step back to compensate. "Yes, I tried to seduce her. It was terrible, I kept thinking about you, and I just couldn't do it, even though I wanted to." Her face softened up until the last line. With those words she threw her hands up in the air.</p><p> </p><p>Paul rolled his eyes and stepped into the ring. "Babe-"</p><p> </p><p>"No."</p><p> </p><p>"Honey-"</p><p> </p><p>"No."</p><p> </p><p>"Swee-"</p><p> </p><p>"Fuck off."</p><p> </p><p>His exasperation grew with each try. "Jinny, I <em>told </em>you. It's what we are!"</p><p> </p><p>She turned to him so fast he blinked and backed away. "And because I'm a woman I'm supposed to just take it and be monogamous, huh? Let such a meaningful, wonderful, lovey dovey bond be the noose around my neck while you two go out and do whomever you feel free to." She paused and smacked herself on the forehead, the gesture oozing sarcasm.  "Oh wait, I forgot! Dummy me! It's not even some sort of soul mate bond, or it’s never been proven, anyway. You don't even know what it is! Maybe it's just marks to keep track of wayward property!" she laughed bitterly.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne blanched and Paul stammered, trying to find words. “Jin, no, I never said that-”</p><p> </p><p>"Jinny, we can't just change who we are!" Dwayne growled, clearly having enough of such treatment for one night.</p><p> </p><p>"But how do you know that's not how <em>I </em>am?" she taunted, raising a brow. </p><p> </p><p>"You're not like that," Dwayne retorted with annoying confidence.</p><p> </p><p>She nodded, lips twisting. "Because I waited. Then I must be the flowers and hearts type. Or maybe I waited because I just can't get anyone," she snapped. "Is that what you think?"</p><p> </p><p>"No, I never said-" Dwayne cut himself off as she turned on her heel, but bypassed the packages and bags sprawled over the floor, conveniently walking right past the blond as she did so. "What are you doing?" he asked, throwing an uneasy look to Paul.</p><p> </p><p>"Jinny, what are you up to?" Paul asked, his frown deepening as his neck began to tingle. She ignored them both and sauntered right up to the fountain, hips swaying as she approached the others.</p><p> </p><p>Marko and David had been cringing and cheering with each bit of the exchange, but fell silent at the sudden, predatory eyes cast their way. </p><p>           </p><p>"She wouldn't," Paul whispered.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne wasn't about to put anything past her. "Jin-babe, get away from there. You come on back now," he added and put enough influence and suggestion into the purr of his voice so she would have no choice but surrender to the seductive invitation. </p><p> </p><p>Her response was to keep her back to them both and promptly flip them off with both hands.</p><p> </p><p>"Damn it, Jinny, get the fuck over here!" Dwayne growled, stalking forward, hand clamped on his neck.</p><p> </p><p>"Calm down, she's not going to do anything, are you girly? Right? Jin-Jin?" Paul asked, his voice waning in confidence the longer she stood like that.</p><p> </p><p>She slowly glanced from David to Marko before she stepped right up onto the lip of the fountain between them.</p><p> </p><p>For their part, the other two seemed to know exactly where she was headed and took a pointed step away from her.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't even <em>thin k</em>about it," David snapped, but his tongue froze as she turned away and promptly gave Marko mouth to mouth.</p><p> </p><p>She pointedly ignored the cursing and snarling behind her as her hands slid over his shoulders and down his arms. He leaned in, but kept his arms locked at his sides, offering nothing back, though maybe he was that shell-shocked. She slowly pulled away with a thoughtful expression on her face. In her peripheral vision, she could see Paul holding Dwayne back, though the blond's eyes were just as red as his friend's. They were both wincing, as if the marks had put them in something close to pain, but not quite.</p><p> </p><p>"Was it as lackluster for you as it was for me?" she asked, wrinkling her nose in disappointment.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, sorry," Marko admitted. "Like kissing a friend’s sister or something."</p><p> </p><p>She nodded. "You'd think it'd be more fun given all the porn tropes out there," she sighed, bristling at the relieved chuckles behind her. </p><p>           </p><p>"See girl? Not worth it. Come on back," Paul drawled.</p><p> </p><p>She pivoted to face David, who quickly backed up along the edge of the fountain. "No. You, get back! Don't you dare, get away from me you crazy-"</p><p> </p><p>"Shut up and do something useful for once," she snapped, lunging in to grab the front of his coat with a hard yank. Paul and Dwayne's snickers were cut short as she slammed her mouth up against the platinum blond’s. Both vampires had killed their share of women who’d come onto them with the intent of getting to David, and it was a knife in the gut to see Jinny pressed up so close against him, her fingertips idly carding through his hair, looking for all the world like some warped romance cover - until they both pushed away after a heartbeat with mutual disdain. </p><p> </p><p>"Holy God what did you <em>eat</em>?!" she gagged, tongue stretching out in disgust, shuddering as if she had tried to ingest something particularly vile. "Gross. Well you're definitely overrated," she choked, wiping her hands on Dwayne’s jacket before quickly using a lapel to wipe her tongue.</p><p> </p><p>David was too busy spitting into the fountain to reply right away. "Do me a favor and <strong><em>never </em></strong>do that again, no matter what you're trying to prove," he managed, pulling a face at least as graphic as hers. "I need a drink."</p><p> </p><p>None of the others could hold the laughter in. Jinny carefully hopped off the fountain, glaring as Paul and Dwayne struggled to hold each other up as they bust a gut.</p><p> </p><p>"Fine, you win," she snapped, cheeks coloring when they didn't settle down. "Do whatever the hell you want," she added, giving them a long look as she turned to leave.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, don't be like that, Jin," Paul managed between wheezes as he struggled to calm down. "Go on and wait for me, I'll bring the rest of your stuff in a few. Just calm down."</p><p> </p><p>Her eyebrow raised and both he and Dwayne found their laughter cut short. "You don't have to bother. I'm actually feeling pretty warm now," she said, a cruel little smile on her lips as she unzipped Dwayne’s jacket. Before either could protest, she backed away and slid it down her arms and off her body, smirking as even David paused in his commentary when she stepped over the coat and sauntered past the fountain and into the tunnel.</p><p>           </p><p>"What the hell are you two looking at?!" Paul snapped when he finally pulled his eyes away from the retreating figure. Marko jumped and moved his gaze to examine his nails, but David just shrugged.</p><p> </p><p>"What? If she's going to walk right by me, I'm not going to cover my eyes!" David protested, a sly grin on his face at his friends' irritation. "I have to say, she may kiss like a Labrador, but I never would've guessed she was hiding that under her clothes," he mused, smirking when Paul lunged, only to be held back by Dwayne.</p><p> </p><p>"Take it back!" Paul snarled, hand going to his back pocket for his knife.</p><p> </p><p>"Chill, he's just trying to bait you," Dwayne warned.</p><p> </p><p>"What? Like I'm supposed to not notice that? I'm sure Marko noticed," David added, gesturing to t the youngest.</p><p> </p><p>"Don't look at me, I didn't see a damn thing, I'm blind," Marko replied, retreating from the two glares he received. "Though I will say this," he added as he turned back around. "It's one thing to do what your instincts urge you to. It’s another to go after new game after your first night with someone you claim you want to be with, especially with a mating bond in play. It's a whole other level of shit to do it knowing that was her first time around the block, plus everything else she’s been put through. All I can say is she must care a lot for you, because I'm not seeing an ounce of what she sees."</p><p> </p><p>Even David blinked at the straight talk from the normally good-natured vampire.</p><p> </p><p>"It's nothin' you need to worry about, short stuff," Paul grumbled. "We'll deal with it-"</p><p> </p><p>Marko's face was unamused. "It's as much my business as anyone else's. You're all living here, we all have to deal with any fallout.  And if you think smoothing it over by banging her brains out-" He rolled his large eyes at Dwayne's choking. "Well that's what you had planned, isn't it?" he snapped, shaking his head as he crossed over to them. "Calm her down, rev her up, make her scream, maybe sink your teeth in when her guard is dropped before you explain why. I know you two. You're great guys, but you can be total assholes when it comes to girls."</p><p> </p><p>"Says the one with all the experience," Dwayne sneered, stunned at Marko's laughter.</p><p> </p><p>"I've had more than you might think. Just because I don't make a constant sport of it, doesn’t mean shit. Did it ever occur to you idiots that settling a little might be good for you?" he added, sighing at their baffled looks. "Of course not. She's right. You want it all ways and it's not fair to make her suffer through it."</p><p>           </p><p>"But there's no way to reverse the bond," Paul pointed out.</p><p> </p><p>David groaned. "That's not what he's saying. Either put some backbone into what you've got going or let her keep up with you." Paul's eyes widened and Dwayne's narrowed. "Not that that's something I'd do. I'd keep her on a short leash until she gets that she doesn't call the shots with you two."</p><p> </p><p>"And have her hating herself in the meantime. That's real sweet," Marko growled.</p><p> </p><p>"What are you, her big brother?" Paul asked, folding his arms across his chest.</p><p> </p><p>"Someone's got to have her back! Be happy I'm not," he warned, all pleasant disposition  gone from his face. Marko was good about keeping his fuse long with his brothers, but he looked five seconds from throwing down if they gave him any more cause.  "If I was, you two would be dead on the floor already. I wish that kiss had done something for me. It'd do you two good to lose something for once," he added, smirking at the shocked looks aimed his way. "Well it's true. You always get what you go after, and now that something worth your while comes along, you're acting like dickheads." He shrugged and headed toward the tunnel. "Do what you want, but at this point you deserve to lose her."</p><p> </p><p>Paul followed Marko's retreating figure with his eyes. "I never did like him," he muttered, wincing when David smacked him across the back of his head. "I'm kidding!"</p><p> </p><p>"Not that. I hate to say it, but he's right," David muttered.</p><p>           </p><p>"Not you too," Dwayne sighed. "You just said-"</p><p> </p><p>"I said what I'd do, and we all known I'm never known for doing the right thing when it comes to shit like that," he admitted. "And that's fine, that's not where I wanna be. But you have to really decide what's important to you." They waited for David to bust out laughing, proving his whole speech was a joke, but his lips remained firmly in a line.</p><p> </p><p>"But we're taking care of her!" Paul protested. "We looked after her-"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah. Why does she feel your bond in her leg, by the way?" he asked, a subtle smile on his face at their noticeable silence. "I thought so. Well, you reap what you sow. Fate may have brought you all together, boys. Seems that it played all your cards right into the same hand, but you have to decide if you really want to keep her, then do something about it."</p><p> </p><p>"We got things for her, didn't we?" Dwayne argued. "We're going nuts trying to calm her down-"</p><p> </p><p>"Buying her shit, soothing her so she'll keep quiet, and fucking her senseless is all well and good, but it isn't building a relationship, never mind a bond," David countered. "If you just want to fuck her and do your thing, fine, but you’d better get that out in the open now and deal with the fall out. Otherwise you need to get to know her, spend time with her, actually cultivate things. I could tell in two heartbeats that she's crazy about you and you run off at the mouth trying to get her to let you go after anything with two legs and the right stuff in between."</p><p> </p><p>"We do care, bro," Paul said softly. He didn't have to look at his best friend to know they were in agreement. </p><p> </p><p>"Coulda fooled me," David muttered. "Now if you'll excuse me, boys, I need that drink before I hit the rafters." He quickly took his exit, leaving the two alone.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0042"><h2>42. Move On</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Marko and Jinny connect and Paul and Dwayne try to figure out how to handle things.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Hey."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny looked up from where she had buried her face into her pillow, jumping when she saw that it was Marko standing in the door. He smiled slightly at her bewildered face. "Quite a show," he said, then realized how bad that sounded.</p><p> </p><p>She shrugged and sat up, quickly adjusting the covers around herself. "I guess."</p><p> </p><p>The blond tossed her a short robe and averted his eyes. Shit, sorry.”</p><p> </p><p>“It’s alright, none of you are used to living with a girl,” she sighed and secured the garment around her. “Okay, you’re good.”</p><p> </p><p>He turned back and lifted a large shopping bag. “Figured I’d give this to you while they weren’t around. You may want to wait to throw some of this into the mix, but I figured you’d want actual sleepwear instead of just flimsy fantasy shit. And if you other stuff doesn’t fit or you need something else, just let me know and I’ll take you. I’ll be damned if you’re going to be their personal centerfold or something stupid like that,” he scoffed.</p><p> </p><p>“Marko…that’s…thank you,” she managed, swallowing the lump in her throat. “It’s nice to be seen as a person. I’m sorry about back there-”</p><p> </p><p>He cut her off with a wave of his hand. "Don't, it keeps them on their toes. Besides, they deserve it." His grin was warm and amused and oddly it didn't have the tint of creepiness that she had always associated with him. </p><p> </p><p>"You agree with me?" she asked. It felt like a foreign concept.</p><p> </p><p>"Hell, I've got money on you," Marko admitted, setting down the bag and entering the room. "You can't let me down," he teased, sobering when it didn't get much of a reaction. "It'll be okay."</p><p> </p><p>"No, no it won't. I don't even know what I'm doing here," she sighed, biting her lip in an attempt to keep from crying. "I was so stupid. I knew better. I know what you all are, I know the things they like, but I actually believed it was about more than sex and territory and..." Jinny broke off to wipe her eyes, mumbling an apology when she sniffled.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, you have every right to cry," Marko soothed, moving to sit beside her on the bed. She flushed, but noticed with relief that he wasn't checking her out. For some reason, he had chosen simply to be nice. He smiled slightly at her train of thought. "We're not bad guys."</p><p> </p><p>"Paul said you were," she whispered.</p><p> </p><p>He sighed and rolled his eyes. "Paul really likes being a vampire. We all do. We made the choice to be what we are. But he and Dwayne and even David...they really like the image, the power," he murmured, frowning in thought. "I mean I do, too. It's nice but for Paul and Dwayne, anyway, sometimes it seems like it shields things they're uncomfortable with. They're not used to really having to talk to anyone but those in the club. You’re right. They’ve had it easy for a long time. This is as new to them as it is to you.”</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head. "Why'd we have to get stuck like this? It’s obvious the stupid bond doesn’t really mean jack to them. It isn't even about some deep feeling or fate or some stupid shit, no matter how they try to spin it. David was right. This isn't a story. We're bonded because they felt sorry for me and healed my leg wound because it was faster than going through a doctor. It wasn't because they felt anything. They're marked because I couldn't control myself and let it get too far. I had to sink my teeth into them," she sighed, leaning away when she began to tremble again. "This stupid bond," she sighed, smashing her fist into the mattress.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, that’s not true. The marks may serve a purpose, but they’re just one of the physical tells. They don’t just happen, even if they did give you their blood to heal you. There has to be a reason for that, for you even being here. That can’t be a fluke. Did you ever stop to think that you got that far in the first place because they cared? Paul was the one that found you the night you were sick. He was beside himself. I was there," Marko told her. "Dwayne didn't want Paul to be the one to be Michael, even though Paul’s the best at that kind of illusion. Dwayne was scared shitless he'd use the chance to kill you off. Yeah, okay, we had to keep you in one piece, go out of their way to voice their concern. I've seen them try harder with you than I've ever seen them try for anyone, and that isn't because of some set of marks. They may link you together, but it doesn't affect how you feel. It happens <em>because </em>you feel that way. Think of it, Jin," he went on, patting her knee, careful only to touch her where there was fabric. "We've healed victims that we've strung along like that. We healed Becky like that and nothing like this happened with her. You can explain everything away as a coincidence, but fact is it happened for a reason. I've never heard of that side effect from healing a wound. That was because of you three, not anything else."</p><p> </p><p>She looked up at him, lip nearly raw from where she'd been chewing it. "I want to believe that.”</p><p> </p><p>“Max used to keep a library on vampire lore and weird shit. I’ll go digging in what we kept and see if there’s anything that can shed light on this. Even if there isn’t, sometimes you just have to trust that things will work out.”</p><p> </p><p>“But they don't care."</p><p> </p><p>Marko smiled wanly. "They do. They just don't know how to show it. You're going to have to be really patient with them, but don't you dare be a doormat. If you need backup, just come get me and I’ll gladly take a chunk out of them, though we may have to walk a line there if it ends up setting your leg off,” he admitted. “Push them out of their comfort zone, make them talk to you, make them take you places. Hell, challenge them, fight with them when they act like idiots. They need that. We rag on each other, but it's usually brushed off unless it's something big. It's harder on you, because deep down you know you love them and they're still hiding that from themselves." She blinked and gave him a sharp look, but couldn't deny it. </p><p> </p><p>"I don't want to change them," she added quietly.</p><p> </p><p>"And you won't. For better or worse, yeah, there will be times when they may get carried away on a hunt. Blood will do that to a vampire. Everything looks and feels so intense when you're getting ready to make a kill. But I don't think they'd go out and slut around just to do it." He rolled his eyes at her snort. "Give them a chance and give yourself one, too. If anything, you'll help them grow up a little and become who they should've been all along."</p><p> </p><p>"I have no idea how to do any of that," she sighed. "I’ve got my own baggage, and I don't even want to believe what I'm feeling is real. And even if it was, I have no clue how to show it."</p><p> </p><p>Marko nodded and rubbed her shoulder lightly. "You're putting way too much thought into it, Jin. There's no right way or one 'how to' when you love someone. You just do. You just love 'em."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny blinked and quietly studied the lost boy that she usually took the most for granted. In a lot of her stories he was merely "there," yet he possessed a tenderness and an understanding that put the others to shame. "How the hell are you actually normal?" she managed, prompting a laugh from the vampire.</p><p> </p><p>"We all went through stuff before we were turned. Some of us more than others. A lot we don't remember, some we don't admit to, some is privileged information," he admitted and she nodded her understanding. "But let's face it: I'm not exactly competition for any of the others in the looks department. I'm not Quasimodo at all," he went on, holding up a hand when she opened her mouth, "but I can't do intense, sultry, or cool with attitude," he admitted with a casual shrug. "I’m not going to intimidate jocks just by walking up behind them. But I found that out a long time ago, before I was even turned. I tried to pull it off, but you know how kids are..." She nodded her full agreement, her attention on his voice and momentarily sober face. "I was laughed right out of every hangout I went to. Things like that make you learn real quick that you have to figure out who you are and go with it. Sure, I don't tell everything, I don't give away all my secrets, but it does me no good to play pretend. Girls dig me because I look sweet and reliable with a bit of a streak," he admitted with a smirk. "Guys sometimes I'm a pushover. Either way, it's a hell of a shock when they find out what I really am," he laughed, the quiet delight of his own game reflected in the set of his mouth. "It serves me well and it's relatively low maintenance. I'm not a prince by any means, I like to fight, I like my fun, but the others are so busy running around half the time trying to live up to the reputation, it makes me wonder why they haven't keeled over from burnout. It’s weird, I’m the youngest, but sometimes it’s like they feel the need to try a lot harder and latch onto the image a lot more," Marko admitted.</p><p> </p><p>"Thanks, Marko," Jinny murmured, reaching over to squeeze his hand. </p><p> </p><p>He nodded. "Don't mention it. You're one of the family, Jin. And damn if you don't need a friend at the moment," he added as he stood to take his leave. "Get some rest. Knowing those two horn dogs, you'll probably need it."</p><p> </p><p>She sighed. "Maybe I should...."</p><p> </p><p>"Don't run away. It won't solve a thing," he warned. "And if you want to be with them, then don't punish yourself by telling them no.” He hesitated, but decided to push his luck. “It probably would just make you end up hurting to deny yourself. You’re linked, you’re going to feel a pull, and because the bond is new it’s going to fuck with your sex drive. That much I do know, when Max did mention shit like that on a non-cosmic level, he thought that part of it was pretty uncouth,” he snickered. “But it’s pretty normal to want your mates like all the time at first, or so I’ve heard. But make sure it isn't just about that. You deserve more than that and they need to learn to have an actual relationship," he added. "Night, Jinny."</p><p> </p><p>"Night, Marko," she called after him before slowly burrowing back down into the covers, eyes dry and mind very full.</p><p> </p><p>****************</p><p>"What do you think?" Dwayne asked after David had taken his leave.</p><p> </p><p>Paul sighed and crossed to the fountain, taking a seat, head in his hands. "I'm exhausted, man. I don't want to think. I have no clue how to do this."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne nodded. "I know. But I still want to. That's what I don't get. I'd have thought it wouldn't be worth it now that we've had her and we’re talking bonds and giving stuff up and all this deep shit."</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah. But it's like you said. How do you give it up, especially when it's part of the game, part of the hunt?"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne shook his head, his frustration clear on his face. "I don't think we really can, not totally."</p><p> </p><p>"And she's not disappearing when we're bound this tightly. And we've prevented her from running away - not that I really want that - but it's like we're trapped."</p><p> </p><p>"Trapped," Dwayne agreed. "Maybe this is how she feels. Unfamiliar territory, everything closing in..." He frowned at Paul's small quirk of a smile. "That's your almost-devious look. What are you thinking?"</p><p> </p><p>"Well, couldn't we blame things on the hunt? Like add it in as a vampire biological technicality? Would she know the difference?”</p><p> </p><p>“Paul,” Dwayne grimaced. “If it was anyone else, maybe, but not her.”</p><p> </p><p>“Well, could we just always keep her with one of us as a distraction while the other...no, I didn't think so," he sighed, leaning his chin on his hand at Dwayne's disapproving look.</p><p> </p><p>"We'd get burned, you know that. David or Marko would figure it out, or she would, and it would all fall apart. Looks like we have to figure out how to deal," the other vampire replied, fighting a yawn. </p><p> </p><p>"I don't even know what she's expecting, or how to give her what she wants," Paul sighed, staring down at his boots. "I mean, we take care of her, we treat her well. Isn't that what women want? Isn't that enough without making us, you know...do more or say it?" he reasoned.</p><p> </p><p>"Sounds damn good to me.  You guys know we're close and I never have to say a word," Dwayne agreed. "She's so sensitive," he muttered, running a hand over his eyes, every move getting more sluggish the closer it got to dawn. "I don't know if I can let her in, Paulie. Not after all I've done. You saw how she looked at me. Besides, it just-"</p><p> </p><p>The blond nodded. "We had different experiences, bro. There was once a time when I thought I'd never get a date and you had way too many. And we both ran with it once we got some. I barely remember it now," Paul added thoughtfully. "Maybe cause I don't want to, but I know somewhere I used to know how she feels. And I know way back before it got trampled on you used to have a heart." He smiled slightly at Dwayne's gruff shrug. He knew his best friend better than the others did, had heard the quiet admissions here and there, though it usually took alcohol or weed to start the conversation. "You can't back out, Dwayne. I can't do it on my own," he whispered, staring into space. He didn't see the dark-haired vampire walk over to him, but he smiled slightly when Dwayne's hand clasped his shoulder.</p><p>           </p><p>"You're not alone. I'm right here with you," Dwayne replied, one side of his mouth raising just a little when Paul raised his eyes to look him in the face.  "Now come on, we're both tired," he sighed, heading towards the pile of things that had yet to reach their destination.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah. I'll take some, you take some. We'll just have to play it by ear," Paul added.</p><p> </p><p>"Exactly. You need to get back to her before she starts dancing on tables or something," Dwayne groaned, shaking his head as the events of the evening replayed in his mind. "I never thought I'd actually admire my parents, but damn, this relationship crap is work," he admitted, filling his arms with bags.</p><p> </p><p>Paul nodded his agreement. "No kidding. They ought to write a book or something. People have no idea!" He quickly scooped up the remainder of the packages before following Dwayne towards the back tunnel.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0043"><h2>43. As the World Falls Down</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Paul tries to get closer to Jinny, and they learn some surprising things about each other</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So this chapter has a *lot* and there was no great way to divide it without hurting the flow. We're back to a bit of smut, also CW for mentions of past abuse.</p><p>I kind of was on the fence whether to go here, because it does seem like kind of a...not overused trope, but a little bit of a character McGuffin. But, I think if we're honest a lot of people have experiences they don't want to think about, and they're normalized all too often, especially if they don't fit a certain pattern or whatever, especially if a person presents as strong and capable otherwise. And I think this obviously shows a lot of Jinny's apprehensions and anxiety with concrete reasons and not just a general anxiety/inferiority issue. So yeah, this will be a bit of a rollercoaster - comments and kudos appreciated. I absolutely love hearing what people liked and being able to connect with y'all!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jinny opened an eye and was tempted to tell whoever was touching her to fuck off. All that escaped her mouth was a barely-awake growl that had no effect whatsoever. The friction on the small of her back slowly tugged her towards the land of the living and she fought a groan. <em>If one of them is humping my back I'll make sure they see the sunrise, bond or no bond,</em>she thought groggily.</p><p> </p><p>It dawned on her that the motion was actually a hand rubbing easy circles into the small of her back. Despite her prominent desire to not show any reaction whatsoever, her body betrayed her and pressed up into the touch, prompting the hand to slowly work its way up her spine. Her jaw tightened and she fought the urge to arch and purr for all it was worth. She always had been a sucker for a good massage, though on principle she had to put a stop to it. When another hand was added and both began to work the knots on each side of her spine she was severely tempted to tell all her principles to take a flying leap out the window.</p><p> </p><p>"Didn't think you were ever going to wake up," Paul murmured from somewhere beside her.</p><p> </p><p>She promptly shut her eye and buried her face deeper in her pillow. "I'm not awake. This is my automated message system," she mumbled. "Leave a message at the tone and be prepared to never get a reply." Her fingers curled tightly into the bedding at his low chuckle. <em>Should’ve known sarcasm wouldn’t phase him.</em></p><p> </p><p>His hands worked in smooth motions up and down her spine and she grit her teeth against the relaxing vibes that took over her body. "Figured you'd say something like that. Lucky for me, I'm persistent," he added, the tips of his fingers pushing a little deeper in her lower back.</p><p> </p><p>"Nice try," she muttered. "This still doesn't change - oh <em>God</em>!" she groaned, arching up into his hands when he worked her shoulder blades. "Yeah, right there," she encouraged, eyes shut tightly when his fingertips dug into her skin and twisted.</p><p> </p><p>"Shit, babe. You're tense in the strictest sense of the word," Paul breathed, shaking his head as he ran his hand up the back of her neck. "How do you stand it?"</p><p> </p><p>"I've always been this way. Tried Masseuses, chiropractors, different physical therapy. I just hold a lot of tension. You get used to it," she admitted, clenching her fists when he started to move his hand away. "No. Harder," she growled.</p><p> </p><p>"You sure? I don't wanna hurt you," he persisted, even as he moved to straddle her thighs. </p><p> </p><p>"This'll be the only time you ever hear this," Jinny muttered and the vampire shifted slightly as she pressed her cheek against the deep green of the pillowcase, looking for all the world as if she was nuzzling a lover's chest. "But when we're talking about my back you're going to have to hurt me."</p><p> </p><p>Paul's hands stopped momentarily and though the sentiment was touching, his hesitation pissed her off. "Trust me, I can take a lot. I'm touched you want to be gentle. I like gentle in a lot of things," she murmured and raised up so she could give him a look over her shoulder. "But right now, I need you to smash the crap out of my scapula."</p><p> </p><p>Paul nodded and grabbed her left wrist and pinned it to the small of her back. "Breathe easy," he ordered before attacking the knots under the raised bone. She hissed and wriggled a little. As nice as her thighs were rubbing up against him, the vampire was more struck at the low purr that vibrated underneath him.</p><p> </p><p>A dreamy smile tugged at the corners of Jinny's mouth. Paul's weight against her thighs was comforting, and the bursts of mixed pain and pleasure that rippled through her each time he worked a taut muscle loose made her forget her irritation. And damn, he was thorough, too thorough to just be considerate. The flats of his palms rubbed intimately against the planes of her back until he built up a pleasant friction. He knew how to work out the knots in the curve of her neck, when to rub with his full hand, when to use his fingertips to loosen knots, when to lightly hit with the edges of his palms. She bit her lip when his hands traveled down her legs, his fingers trailing up her inner thighs in a way that was a total contradiction from the way her massage therapist had always treated her. Her teeth clenched against the moan as his fingertips just barely tickled over the edges of her sex before he quickly pulled back and raised up.</p><p> </p><p>"Much better. Roll on over, let me do the other side," he insisted, his voice rough and laced with invitation. Her immediate reaction was to comply, but she paused when she started to push up underneath him, the scenes from the night before replaying in her memory. As much as she wanted it, she wondered if he was offering because he wanted to or because it happened to be his night with her. With pursed lips, she pointedly fluffed the pillow and sunk back facedown into the mattress. </p><p> </p><p>"Come on, don't be like that!" he sighed as he sat beside her. "I don't want to spend all night arguing."</p><p> </p><p>"Then stop acting like an asshole," she grumbled, her arms folding over the back of her head for emphasis. </p><p> </p><p>Paul reached over and silently took one hand, unbothered by her low growl. He cupped it between both of his, quietly pressing on the palm and running his touch over each finger, amused when her arm loosened and succumbed to his ministrations. "I thought I was being pretty nice," he admitted, resting a hand on the center of her back when she threatened to whip around. "Don't. You'll just kink everything up again."</p><p> </p><p>"It'll happen anyway. Always does," she muttered, though she melted into the bed when he rubbed his hand over her back again. "How'd you get so good at this, anyway?" she mumbled, distantly aware that he had set her arm over his knee for leverage so he could rub down her forearm vigorously. That action had never failed to get her slightly revved up, a high point of anxiety for her every time she got on a massage table. She could feel the dampness start to gather between her legs and didn't have to wonder if he would know. He'd be able to smell it right off.</p><p> </p><p>There was a slight pause as he shifted towards her legs, both palms wrapping round her right calf as he attacked the tensions there. "I'd love to say it just came naturally, but I took a class." The quiet admission made her rein in her laughter and the temptation to blurt out something stupid.</p><p> </p><p>She managed to compose her jellied muscles enough to push herself up and look at him over her shoulder. "Really?"        </p><p> </p><p>The look on his face was thoughtful and mixed with relief at her reaction. "Yeah. A while after I was turned. I dunno how long it was, long enough." He pressed her back down into the mattress with a hand on her back before his palms started skidding from the tops of her thighs to her heels. She twitched at the smooth movement and strained to keep her thighs apart. He chuckled slightly, but kept going. </p><p> </p><p>"I never really cared about high school," he went on, thumbs working a particularly bad part of her calf. "All that shit about government and algebra and the scientific method I really didn't care about. But, I dunno, after I was turned and calmed down a little - only a little," he added at her snort, his hands cupping each ankle, the pads of his thumbs swirling into the indentations there. "I started paying more attention to the actual hunt and not just the killin', the types of girls that were attracted to me, how guys acted when we all approached them. I guess people can't help putting labels on people," he sighed, his hands rippling back up until his fingertips were dangerously close to the area between her legs. She stiffened slightly in anticipation, but he retreated.</p><p> </p><p>"What do you mean?" she mumbled, the heady fog produced by a good massage commandeered most of the working part of her brain. </p><p> </p><p>"It's not important."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny forced herself to pay attention and started to raise up but was deterred by a sharp pinch on the ass. She lowered herself again, but at least she was back on the same page. "Obviously, it is."</p><p> </p><p>Paul paused, his hands flat on her back but stationary for the moment. "David's the leader: he's intimidating, dangerous, and guys and women saw him as a real machine, really smart, and he is. Marko's the all-around good guy. He's likeable, he knows how to get about anything, so he commands his own kind of respect. Plus, he’s just nasty in a fight when it comes to it, so people either want to hang with him or know to steer clear once they hear how he can snap," Paul went on, picking up her foot and placing it on his lap. And Dwayne, I mean he can just stand there and girls fall on him or guys run like pussies," he muttered, and she would have bristled had she not picked up the slight bit of envy in Paul's voice.</p><p> </p><p> It was a weird equilibrium she was stuck in, that was for sure. His fingers skimmed down her arch and she struggled against the mixed ticklish sensations and heat that ran up her leg to her pussy. His fingers tugged on her toes and ground into her heel, prompting her to bury her face in the pillow so he wouldn't hear the telltale moans.</p><p> </p><p>"I knew you liked that," he chuckled, switching to her other foot. "Anyway, that leaves me: loud, out for a good time, a good lay, the joker, the dumb one."</p><p> </p><p>His voice was quiet when he said the last bit. It was something she had never expected from someone that oozed confidence and nonchalance from every pore. "Paul, you're not dumb!" she hissed, glancing behind her. He shrugged and kept working,  his eyes locked on her foot. "I'm not just saying that!" she added, pushing her knees up and turning over, kicking aside the hands that tried to keep her on her stomach. </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, well, I never did great in school, I can't put things into words as well as David or Marko or even Dwayne when he chooses to open his fucking mouth. I always deal with the people who are out for a fun time. That's cool, that’s how I like to be, I'm all for partying, but...when I start catching looks that I'm not supposed to see, when certain types of people blow me off or ignore me, when I look around at the people I'm hunting and get disgusted by how stupid they can be and then wonder if that's how people on the street see me…What else am I supposed to think?" </p><p> </p><p>Jinny frowned at the vampire that she usually found as so imposing, so cool because of his ability to just be who he was. It had never occurred to her that he might have inner fears spurred on by the very thing that she admired him for. "Paul, you're not dumb," she said, grabbing his hand in both of hers. "It takes a brave person to let it all hang out the way you do. Yeah, you can use the powers to account for that, but you sure as hell aren't hiding behind them. I'm amazed at all the things you've told me in the last couple of days. You've explained things that I'd never be able to get off the bat. It takes someone with brains to be able to put things like that into terms a layman can understand!"</p><p> </p><p>He looked at her a long moment and then gave a slow nod. "I guess."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny fixed him with a firm look as she shifted to her knees in front of him. "Paul, I mean it."</p><p> </p><p>"You have to say that," he countered and she rolled her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"I do not! Just because you give me fantastic orgasms doesn't mean I have to stroke your ego along with your cock," she pointed out, smiling at his startled look. "I don't care what those morons you hunt think, or even what the uppity folks or tourists or graduates or whoever think. You may not show it out in the open, but you're bright. Look at how well you ran the café when you were posing as Michael. I'd stand tall walking beside you out on the Boardwalk," she added, grimacing at his disbelieving look. "Someone without wits wouldn't be able to pull off the vampire thing as long as you have. You said it yourself, you have to know what you're doing!" she argued, clasping his chin in her hand when he made a face and tried to look away. "I don't want to ever hear you say that again. You can be an idiot, but you're not dumb," she added, the corners of her mouth twitching.</p><p> </p><p>The look he gave her was wary, searching, and she felt the barest brush of something in her mind. "You mean it," he murmured, brows lifting in surprise. She nodded, amazed that the fact would be so hard for him to accept.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, I do."</p><p>           </p><p>"Man," he breathed, looking thoughtful. "And you actually know a lot. Have your degree and all, I bet."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny quieted and started her own contemplation of the bedding. It would have been so easy to lie to make herself feel better, but after what he had just told her, she never could get away with it in good conscience. And he would know the moment she started to fib. "I went to college, didn't graduate," she admitted. She expected him to plow her with questions, but Paul remained silent, his hand slowly winding around hers.</p><p>           </p><p>"What happened?" he finally asked when she made no move to continue.</p><p> </p><p>She shrugged. "Got scared. When the classes started getting harder I felt like I couldn't keep up. I lived on campus and was a long way from home, surrounded by nothing familiar. I was majoring in fashion design and English, neither of which were extremely fertile grounds in the scheme of life. I tried to do too much, burned out. It was all too hard. There was too much competition, too many people better than me. I did great the first couple of years and then I started worrying that suddenly the professors would look at my portfolio or my papers and realize what an idiot I was. So, I decided to go home. I moved back in with the family, took jobs here and there, finally started a small alternative boutique with my best friend from high school, finally got the courage to start writing again and submit to some small places and magazines. That’s when the self-publishing craze picked up again, but it’s still not the same. There are days I hate myself for being such a coward and a failure," she sighed, idly brushing her fingers along his.</p><p> </p><p>His hand flipped over and his fingers curled around hers, the action filling the silence of the moment. "You shouldn't...I wouldn't have known, Jin."</p><p> </p><p>She shrugged awkwardly, the helpless feelings bubbling up under her skin."I have to be good at covering it up. I don't want anyone to know. My parents were disappointed enough. My older sister was in law school, so there had to be something wrong with me." She cast a timid look up at the vampire who stared at her openly, his fingers skimming to her wrist, then back down to her hand. "The real world is a scary place, Paul," she finally admitted. </p><p> </p><p>He nodded, for once serious. "I know, babe. Why do you think I made the choices I did?" It made sense. It was just another way to get through life. Everyone made their alternative decisions, so why not become a vampire?</p><p> </p><p>She smiled and squeezed his hand. "Now tell me what classes you took.”</p><p> </p><p>He hadn't expected her to actually take interest and found it was hard to just admit to the things he'd done that didn't go with the lifestyle he was known for. The guys hadn’t ragged on him for it. There were always the jokes about some of his choices and the bizarreness of the situation on the whole, yet they had always been somewhat accepting. But to have her there looking at him so intently without a hint of judgment...that was new. </p><p> </p><p>"Well, just things I was interested in. Shit that was relatively cheap considering. If I saved up a few wallets or went for the high-end kills it was fairly easy to pull off. The community college here has night classes, and a lot of other places have workshops or stuff. Just things I was interested in, things I didn't know about," he mumbled.</p><p> </p><p>She remembered and blurted it without thinking. "Like cooking?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul shrugged but glanced away quickly. "It was a good way to meet girls," he admitted, cringing at her potential wrath, but for once she was only thoughtful. "Real girls, not like the ones that follow us around all the time, or the students. I mean they’re fine but, I dunno, maybe I was tryin’ to prove something to myself. The joke was on me, though," he added as he attempted a smile and came away with a grimace. "Women like that didn't give a damn about me even trying, they just looked at me like I was a fucking joke with a spatula," he added, noticeably bristling. "And I guess I got tired of eating from a box every time I remembered the food I used to eat. Isn't the same," he admitted, tugging the bedspread between his fingers. </p><p> </p><p>"Well those girls were idiots not to see what was in front of them. My god, you're hot, you're hilarious, and you <em>cook</em>for crying out loud! And believe me, I know all about box cooking. Nothing that you just heat up in a microwave is real food. I lived off it for a while and man," she admitted, wrinkling her nose. "Not that I ever had the guts to learn how to use a stove," she added pointedly. "Too lazy, I guess."</p><p> </p><p>Paul smiled slightly, a little bit of his ego coming back. "Ain't that hard, really."</p><p> </p><p>"Tell that to the genius that can blow up bacon," she sighed, blushing at the laughter he couldn't keep restrained. "Shut up, Julia Child," she growled, smacking his knee with her open palm. "What other things did you take?"</p><p> </p><p>"A woodworking class. Nothing much came out of that, I was just trying to regain some masculinity," he admitted with a laugh. "A few book groups-"</p><p> </p><p>"Book groups?!"</p><p> </p><p>Paul's eyes narrowed and he leaned away. "Yeah, I can actually read, y'know."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny shook her head so quickly her hair smacked against her cheeks. "No, I know you can, I just didn't thing you'd, well, want to."</p><p> </p><p>He relaxed slightly, his posture more casual again. "Well, the old stuff I don't like," he admitted. "I'll never have the patience for Shakespeare or <em>War and Peace</em>or <em>Pride and Prejudice</em>-"</p><p> </p><p>"Paul, <em>I</em>don't have the patience for <em>Pride and Prejudice</em>. That’s why the films exist," Jinny intervened, smiling at that oddly cute look in his eyes when he became a little more convinced that he was okay. </p><p> </p><p>"So it was some more modern stuff, I guess. Zelaney, Stephen King, some other genre shit. Some graphic novel groups. I like Bradbury, he's okay," he added, almost as an afterthought.</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes widened and she refrained from the fangirlish squeal the name usually produced. "He's my favorite," she breathed, grinning at the spark of interest in his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"No kidding?" he asked, his eyes still searching her face for some sign that she was just trying to make him feel better.</p><p> </p><p>"I love his style...well all his styles...<em>Dandelion Wine's</em>my favorite," she sighed, a nostalgic smile on her face.</p><p> </p><p>"See, I like <em>Martian Chronicles</em>, myself, but yeah, he's okay," Paul agreed, brow turning down slightly. "You like Neil Gaiman?"</p><p> </p><p>"Love him. Still can't get over <em>American Gods </em>or <em>Sandman.</em>"  There was a comfortable pause and she had to remind herself that she was sitting with the same dickhead that had put up some really dumb arguments the night before. "So, what else?"</p><p> </p><p>"I don't know, all sorts of stuff here and there," the blond replied, a finger idly tracing up the top of Jinny's knee. She shivered, but remained rigid. Something wicked sparked in Paul's eyes as he silently took up the challenge.</p><p> </p><p>"What about the massage class then?" she prompted, batting his hand out of the way when he moved to walk his fingers higher up her thigh.</p><p> </p><p>Paul glanced away momentarily and she nodded. "Good place to meet women," they said at the same time, him grudgingly and her wryly. </p><p> </p><p>"Well you seem to know your stuff," she admitted, rocking her head from side to side to test the tension in her neck. </p><p> </p><p>"Eh, I just wish I'd gotten through the whole course and gotten credited. That would've been cool," he sighed, used to Jinny's patented 'you're so weird' look that was the token reply.</p><p> </p><p>"What happened?"</p><p> </p><p>"Let's just say the teaching staff heard a little too much about me," Paul muttered, going back to tugging at the bedspread, though this time it was with a smirk.</p><p> </p><p>"You didn't try to...god, you weren't feeding off people while you-" He cut her off with a disgusted look.</p><p> </p><p>"Hell no! What's the fun of feeding from someone who's so relaxed they can't even get worked up when you drop fang?" he countered</p><p> </p><p>"I have no idea," she shot back dryly. "So if you didn't...." Jinny trailed off and buried her face in a hand. "Oh God, Paul!"</p><p> </p><p>"What? I never got any complaints! I just never thought the place would get so many calls about how great I was! And once they found out why, well..."</p><p> </p><p>"Isn't that a little illegal?" she muttered, clenching her eyes shut against the thought of being taken on a massage table, determined not to be the slightest turned on by the images in her head. Her mind may have been determined but her body sure as hell wasn't listening.</p><p> </p><p>"Always asked first," he said, clearly intent on defending his actions. "Besides, some of those soccer moms were hot, and damn did they need to be loosened up in more ways than one-"</p><p> </p><p>"Paul!"</p><p> </p><p>He grew sheepish at the slip, though for the most part he was unrepentant. "Sorry. What can I say, the power in my hands is an amazing thing!" he added, smirking as he wiggled his fingers her way.</p><p> </p><p>She rolled her eyes and pointedly scooted back and away from those magic hands. "I'll admit you're good. Not often that I get someone who can get me that loose, and I've never had a guy rub me down before," she added, rolling her eyes when he began to preen.</p><p> </p><p>"Well there's a lot more where that came from," he drawled, eyebrows wagging as he leaned closer. She made a face and went to smack him out of reflex when he pounced, tumbling them both backwards onto the bed despite her protesting squeals. He easily overpowered her, not that she was struggling all that hard. Jinny's laughter quieted when she looked up and found herself nose to nose with the blond vampire, the rest of him lazily sprawled over her, effectively pinning her to the bed. He never put his full weight on her, a fact that she was only vaguely aware of, but that struck her as bizarrely attentive and sweet, something that was typical Paul. His grin was only slightly dirty as his fingers buried deep in her hair before his hands cupped her face between them. "I can do your front...or I can just finish you off...or I could give into temptation and spank your sweet little ass for being so tempting."</p><p> </p><p>Her stomach tightened and she tried to keep her face calm, tried to not stiffen or curl in on herself. Paul's brow creased and she knew she had to give him an answer or else whatever good moment they'd been close to would be lost. "I..." She swallowed hard when his fingertips slid over her thigh. The panic rose against her ribs when he moved her back onto her stomach and knelt behind her. "Paul-"</p><p> </p><p>His hand rested in the center of her back, working smooth, deep circles into the tightening muscles there. "Easy. I thought of somethin' better," he breathed. Even though she couldn't see him, she could tell that he wasn't going to give up on the matter, but for the moment he'd tread lightly around it. </p><p> </p><p>He nudged her thighs apart with his knees as he settled in behind her, and any dissent she could have voiced was choked back when his mouth skimmed along the back of her neck. His hands swept the length of her back as his cheek pushed her hair aside to whisper in her ear. "Relax...."  His voice was right by her ear with no breath to announce its arrival. Jinny would have vaulted off the bed had he not been over her, his hands urging her body to melt into the mattress. Fingertips softly traveled the length of her spine, the faintest of touches that raised her skin into gooseflesh. "Relax," he purred again, and this time it was like the word resonated inside her mind. Without thinking about it, her body went limp under his touch, though she still shivered at the soft touch of his hands gliding down to her ass. His palms, warmed with the friction from rubbing her body, circled and kneaded her cheeks, and she bit her lip and arched as he squeezed them together. She could just make out the touch of something hard and damp against her thigh, and she smiled to herself, though still unwilling to raise her head and break the hypnotic spell.</p><p> </p><p>And from the way his fingers rubbed at her hips he was unwilling to let her break it. "Relax. Feel every place I touch you." His voice almost vibrated when she heard it, and suddenly she was so aware of his hair trailing against her neck, the intimate brush of his knees between hers, the barely-there scrape of his fingernails over the backs of her thighs.  His touch was everywhere, became everything, until her eyes fluttered closed and nothing else mattered.  </p><p> </p><p>His fingers tickled along her inner thighs, his tongue flicking against her hairline on the nape of her neck until she whimpered, squirming under him. "Just let me make you feel good. Relax." His voice again echoed through her whole body, whispering up and down her spine until it somehow reached between her legs before his hands did, lulling Jinny further into the cocoon created by his voice. "That's it, honey. Just relax."</p><p> </p><p>A low moan worked its way out of her when his fingertips skimmed over her slit, pausing to lightly tug her lips until she was aware of being spread and entered, of his fingers curling up as she lifted her hips to allow him better access. His knees slid under her pelvis and she groaned, the fire that rushed through her as he slowly rubbed inside warring with the blanket of calm that kept her still. </p><p>           </p><p>"You like feeling me this way?" he growled, his mouth almost around her ear. "You like my fingers buried deep inside you, working all of you?" he rasped, his free hand insistently circling on her back. She managed a half-nod into the blankets and hissed when he increased his pace, the rhythm of his thrusting fingers and rocking of his body causing her breasts to slowly rub against the sheets. "That's it, that's my sweet girl," he urged as she felt herself grow wet around his seeking fingers, squeaking when his knuckles bumped her clit. "Be a good little girl and let me play. Just let me work you. Give up your control and let me do you, babe."</p><p> </p><p>She groaned and started to clench her face, but found she couldn't. She was caught in a dreamy mix of relaxation and awareness, of calm and tension, relying on the vampire behind her to pull and work the strings to give her release.  It should have pissed her off, but it was so strange not having to do anything, so startling to lay there and feel the friction of his fingers as they worked deeper, the ridges of his knuckles when they collided with her clit, the soft rasp of the sheets when they rubbed and bunched around her hardening nipples and cheek laid flat against the bed. </p><p> </p><p>Jinny nearly screamed when Paul slid his fingers out of her, but his hands were quickly moved to her hips. Her only means of reaction was to breathe faster when he lifted her hips from his knees and pushed himself in to the hilt. <em>Oh God. </em>Her throat tightened and she was gratified to hear his groan above her, feel his fingers dig into her hips. His pants dissolved into moans after a few shallow thrusts, and electricity thrummed from her clit when he hit it at every upstroke. </p><p> </p><p>"Deeper. Get on your knees for me, kitty cat," he gasped, and though his arm snaked under her, she felt herself readily obeying. Her limbs felt boneless, but some how she kept her balance. "So good," he breathed, and sparks rippled under her skin when his hair brushed over her shoulder. "Love feeling you this way. You feel so fucking perfect around me." His voice was tight and hot against her ear, and her fingers bunched at the sheets at how his chest rubbed over her back as he worked himself inside her. She was so close, so ready for it, when he paused.</p><p> </p><p>"Paul..." she whined, beads of sweat sliding down her arms, the blush so close to bursting out across her chest. </p><p> </p><p>"Shhh, sweetheart. Just feel us together like this," he replied, his lips moving against the back of her shoulder. Her heartbeat pounded, freezing all of her worries and bringing her thoughts only down to where they were connected. To emphasize his point, Paul circled his hips hard against hers before stilling again.</p><p> </p><p>"Paul, please," she whispered, eyes shut and waiting for his next move, next words. And then he pulled nearly out and thrust home in one swift, smooth motion.</p><p> </p><p>She screamed and nearly fell forward, wriggled back against him when his fingers found her clit and worked it to take her higher. "That's right. Take me deep, girl. Come hard. Come hard for me. Let me fill you up so you know you’re mine," he growled, and her jaw dropped in a silent howl when his fangs scraped down her neck, never piercing the skin, but reminding her of what he was and that she was his. She squeezed him tighter, only aware of the heat spreading through her as he gasped and came. </p><p> </p><p>After a while she found that she could still breathe, though it was easier to concentrate on the rapid flutter of her pulse, the rhythm of her breath, and the lazy circles of Paul's fingers against her arm as he curled up behind her on the bed. The vampire mumbled something against her neck and she shivered at the ever-so-slight prick of fangs against her skin. It was amusing to realize that he had been too far gone to retract them, even after he'd gotten his. "What was that?" she groaned, relieved to find she had working control over her body again. The arm around her waist loosened slightly as she stretched with her whole body, which felt pleasantly relaxed and charged all at once. He moved his mouth away from her skin and mumbled again. She frowned, wondering if she had heard right. "Paul?" Something in her constricted again as she tentatively watched his face cross from something unknown to the lazy, sated expression she was accustomed to. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was disappointed at that look. </p><p> </p><p>"Nothing, babe. You're just amazing, is all," he purred, fingers toying with her sweat-dampened hair. </p><p> </p><p>"I could say the same," she teased, pushing back any conflicted feelings with the reminder that she was having fun. <em>There’s no reason to want more. Just enjoy what he’s offering. </em>Her fingers trailed up his arm to her neck and he grinned.</p><p> </p><p>"Didn't bite," he replied to her unasked question. </p><p> </p><p>She blushed but didn't apologize. "Why not?"</p><p> </p><p>He shrugged and there was an oddly boyish expression on his face as he drew her closer to his chest. "Just isn't time yet. When you're ready you'll let us know." She nodded against him, allowed herself a smile as his hand passed up and down her spine.</p><p> </p><p>"What the hell did you do to get me so...so...?</p><p> </p><p>He chuckled. "Just a little mojo. A teeny bit!" he insisted when she at him sharply. "I don't go in for that Bella Lugosi big-eyed love slave shit, and I wouldn't have done it if you hadn't liked it."</p><p> </p><p>She frowned as she considered his face. "But how would you know if I didn't?"</p><p> </p><p>His brow furrowed as he searched for the words, the expression oddly endearing on his face. "Little things. Pulse, scattered bits of thought. We can tell that with anyone, but more when we're close with someone. And we're pretty damn close," he added, slyly pinching her thigh. </p><p> </p><p>She jumped but could only manage a wan "Yeah, I guess so."</p><p> </p><p>His finger reached under her chin, making her gaze meet his. "I wouldn't hurt you, babe. I don't take what you're not ready to give. I may be a bastard, but I don't do that."</p><p> </p><p>She nodded. "Yeah, I know. I trust you, I just..." She pushed it away. It was all well and good to try and show them love, but how could she when they weren't willing to accept it? Marko seemed so sure, and Paul had shared a hell of a lot, but then it was right back to the physical. Her mind bubbled with confusion as she tried to work it out and not be obvious about her point of conflict. </p><p> </p><p>Paul's hand slid down her back and lightly cradled her ass. "Can I ask you something?" His voice wasn't gleeful like it usually was when he was touching that part of her. Glancing up at him proved that his eyes were slightly stormy, his face serious. "David may joke about us owning you, and I know we may mention stuff in the heat of the moment, and yeah we can tell if we’re pushing it, but if you have a problem with anything, you'd tell us, right?"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah," she agreed before catching on to what he was talking about. "Ah. The spanking thing. I just. It just seems a little weird to me, is all," she worded carefully, fingers idly tracing the lines of his ribs. He squirmed a little against her touch, but didn't drop the subject.</p><p> </p><p>"It is for a lot of people. Nothing wrong with trying it, though. Either one of us would make sure it was good for you."</p><p> </p><p>She hadn't expected them to want to try different things - or she hadn't expected them to ask to do them, at least. "Well..." Jinny paused and glanced hesitantly up at Paul, her finger still working along his chest. "Okay....but only on the butt...," she added, keeping her face trained on the pale skin in front of her. </p><p> </p><p>He didn't need to breathe, but his body stilled even more than what it had been. "Jin..." Her hand darted off his chest and tangled in the covers as she tried to tug them up further. "Jin honey," he murmured, though it was as much of a command as she had ever heard him give. </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah?" she mumbled, tugging bits of the sheets between her hands. </p><p> </p><p>Her cheeks flamed when he slid down to match her eye level. "Jin, has anyone ever hurt you?" She started to shrug it off, but a slight raise to his eyebrows made it known that he wasn't going to let it go. "It's not something you usually hear a person say."</p><p> </p><p>"I dunno, I don't know how these things work! I'm the naive one here!" she blurted, trying to find a safe place to keep her gaze.</p><p> </p><p>"No, you're not. You're inexperienced, not naive."</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head slowly, waited for the mental tug that would convince her to speak. She was so surprised when it didn't come that she finally decided to tell him on her own. "Not what you think. I was a little kid. Gwen, my big sis, she was always the good kid. I'm probably glorifying it, but she did whatever was asked. My folks were used to having her haul the line. I wasn't a bad kid, just different, into different things, a little more loosey goosey. My dad wasn't always patient, so he'd either do the counting thing to let me know he was serious, or he'd spank me hard enough to let me know he meant business-" </p><p> </p><p>She frowned and came back to herself at Paul's curse. "It's okay. I could be difficult. It was only really embarrassing if it was in public because he yelled a lot when he did it-”</p><p> </p><p>“He fucking spanked you in <em>public?”</em></p><p>
  
</p><p>She shrugged. “Well yeah, if I wasn’t keeping up in a store or something, he’d push me against a shelf and make sure I paid attention.”</p><p> </p><p>“Jin-”</p><p> </p><p>“I had my head in the clouds a lot and could be willful. I was a bratty kid, I probably deserved it-"</p><p> </p><p>"Nuh-uh. I don't care how whiney you were, that shit doesn't cut it.” </p><p> </p><p>She shrugged. “Where I come from a lot of people raise their kids that way.”</p><p> </p><p>"Then they're stupid!" She blinked at his reply. "Did he do this a lot?"</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head. "Less as I got older. Only when I deserved it..." She clamped her mouth shut when she felt him shiver, obviously not in pleasure. "Last time was when I was ten...he caught me drawing instead of doing my homework. I guess I was pretty obvious with my markers all over the living room," she sighed. "School bored me, and I had a bad habit of putting things off..."</p><p> </p><p>Without warning her mind broke open until all she could see was her father's thin, disappointed face over her. His yells immediately rose above the volume on the television - always an indication to retreat to her room. He was faster, and she had tried to keep still, tried to breathe with her face against the carpet, but his hand had swooped down harder than usual. She had squirmed and his hand slipped, catching her up above the waistline. All the while he had been ranting that she needed to apply herself, that she was going to fail the fifth grade, that she'd never get anywhere if she didn't start acting right like her older sister. She would've thought her crying would've made him stop but he had kept going, his shouts making his hand unsteady until she had a nice set of red handprints on her lower back and upper thigh that had stayed there for days. It was only when he had calmed down and realized how off his aim was that he pulled back. It was the last time he had ever spanked her.</p><p> </p><p>The memory naturally segued to another, when she’d been forced to move back home and face her failure and her parents’ disappointment. She didn’t even remember what the argument had been about, but he’d stepped into her space, she’d reacted and shoved him, and the next thing she’d known she’d been backhanded across the kitchen while he ranted about what a bitch she’d become. He'd caught himself and backed off, but he'd never apologized and they'd never talked about it. </p><p> </p><p> It had been the drive she’d needed to work hard to open her store and move out, had reminded her too much of another memory that slid from the ether, that of one of her few attempts at a serious relationship in college. Andrew had been a lot like her father in some ways – sweet and kind on the outside, but simmering with resentment when she wouldn’t act how he thought she should. She’d pulled back, overwhelmed by finals and projects, and just plain hadn’t been ready to give herself to anyone. To his credit he hadn’t forced her, had just broken up with her, but it was her fault for trying to please him, for taking him up to the moment in his dorm room then deciding she just couldn’t. It wasn’t until bitched her out and  tossed her across the room by her hair that she’d gotten a clue, some self respect, and a fuck ton of anger that she’d used to build her wall.</p><p> </p><p>Jinny shook her head and realized too late that something else had been in her mind with her. "Paul!" she snapped, then gasped at his eyes gone red, the feathers leaking out from one pillow where he had gutted it. "It's okay-"</p><p> </p><p>"That is <em>not </em>okay!" he snarled, his talons bunching into his fists. "<em>None of that is okay! </em>That is the furthest thing from okay-"</p><p> </p><p>“It was just little moments, Paulie. Stupid moments. They shouldn’t have happened, but they were accidents and I learned-”</p><p> </p><p>"None of that should have happened! Accidents my ass," he growled, his muscles knots of tension and anger, actively fighting to keep the predator from circling.</p><p> </p><p>“Paul, it’s not like I was abused-”</p><p> </p><p>“What the fuck would you call it, then?”</p><p> </p><p>She winced and sighed. She’d been down that road many times, was too tired to dig as far as she probably needed to. “A lot of women have moments like that. A lot of women have it worse. It wasn't repeated behavior, and people love my dad, and Andrew was super likeable. There was no good reason for me to open my mouth and deal with what that would mean. I learned to protect and shield myself and survived, Paul. What they did was awful, but I’m okay. I get how the world works.”</p><p> </p><p>"Be glad you're from a different place. If I could track either of them down…" he clamped his mouth shut against the rest of the threat and she sighed.</p><p> </p><p>"That's flattering, Paul, but I'm a big girl. I can handle myself now." She narrowed her eyes at the look he gave her. "I should've been doing my homework, I should have tried harder in college, fuck, I should have set my boundaries better with Andrew-"</p><p> </p><p>"No. You were a little girl! And too old for that spanking shit. I don't care what you did, you were acting like a kid. You didn't need that kind of humiliation."</p><p> </p><p>"My folks didn't believe in grounding us. And mostly after that I just got lots and lots of lectures about how I wasn’t measuring up,” she sighed. "He barely looked at me or even talked to me after that until I’d moved back home after school-”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t care what you did, you tried your best and didn’t deserve to fucking be attacked over stupid expectations.”</p><p> </p><p>“He was pissed I wasted his money.”</p><p> </p><p>“You’re his fucking kid, he should’ve been supporting you. Where the hell was your mom?”</p><p> </p><p>She shrugged. “She wasn’t aware until later. And she felt bad about it, but agreed I should’ve applied myself more. Consequences are consequences.” She felt herself withdrawing, hated when that happened, had worked so hard to not retreat from the world because of stupid emotions. “I never told either about the fallout with Andrew. They were barely aware I was dating and that would have been one more nail in the coffin on how I wasn't keeping up enough with school.  I shouldn’t have let him get to me, I should have put my boundaries out sooner or just turned him down and kept to myself. it only made handling the workload harder and didn’t do me any favors, obviously."</p><p> </p><p>Paul cursed a blue streak and looked about ten seconds from losing his mind. “No real man would raise a hand to a woman just because she changes her mind." She shrugged, settled behind her numbness, and he took a long, forced breath. “Jin, did anyone do <em>anything </em>else?” She shook her head. “Nothing else?” he asked, brows raised.</p><p> </p><p>“I've got nothing to hide, Paul. You'd know, anyway. There’s been other embarrassing shit, but nothing else really along those lines. If anything, most people in my life ignored me after that, until I did my best to rebuild my own makeshift life." She felt the searching reach of his mind against hers, even as she worked to lock herself up tight. The presence didn't leave until he was apparently satisfied. </p><p> </p><p>He gave her a long, skeptical look. "None of that was your fault."</p><p>           </p><p>She blinked and shrugged. "Doesn't really matter now-"</p><p> </p><p>He was back down beside her, fingers under her chin. "It <em>wasn’t </em>you're fault. Whatever shit you were made to believe, whoever blew you off and didn’t help you...no one had a right to do those things to you." She frowned and tried to process that, along with the vehement sincerity in his eyes. </p><p> </p><p>"All right," she finally agreed. He nodded slowly, as if he didn't quite buy it, before kissing her cheek and urging her back down against the covers. "You're not coming to bed?"</p><p> </p><p>"In a bit. I need to calm down first." She opened her mouth to apologize, but he was faster. "Don't say it. There's no need." He sat on the bed beside her, his hand trailing through her hair.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>You’ve just shown how incompetent you are. Now he knows that he’s stuck with damaged goods. Would you blame him if he’s not there when you wake up? </em>
</p><p> </p><p>She frowned at the sigh above her. "I'm not mad at you, Jin. Fuck, you didn't do a damn thing but what I asked," he admitted. "Just let me handle it. It'll be alright," he insisted, fingers still playing in her hair as her eyes drooped lower and her brain drifted off to sleep.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0044"><h2>44. Absolute Beginners</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Paul and Dwayne try to deal with revelations and the responibility this puts on them for the future</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Paul felt only a little bit of guilt influencing Jinny to go back to bed. <em>She needs the rest. I'll wake her later to eat and check on her. </em>He had the inkling that the longer she was conscious with the present line of thought, the angrier he was going to get, and then she'd blame herself and do something stupid. He shook his head in frustration as he watched the easy rise and fall of her chest, even though her expression was troubled.</p><p> </p><p>God, he wanted to tear into something, preferably something mean that would fight back and deserve a painful death. So much made sense now, and he felt even more out of his depth. Something in him physically ached for her, felt helpless that he couldn’t just make things better. The vampire in him liked a quick, bloody resolutions to problems like that, but there was no way to get it in this case, no way to take vengeance for her.</p><p> </p><p>He tugged the covers over her bare shoulder out of habit and bit his lip. He could always slip inside her sleeping mind to see if there had been anything else. She <em>had </em>been telling the truth, but from the way she worded things, it was probably a fair enough bet that she had been fed a lot of shit in her time. She was smart enough to not buy most of it, but too much of that wore a person down, and it had obviously affected her. His fingers smoothed up the soft skin of her shoulder to her neck and he found himself calming when his fingers ruffled under her hair to her temple. <em>It would just take a moment. It would be so easy. </em> He had every right to, especially given what she’d shared...well, the bit he had invited himself in on through the bond.</p><p> </p><p>His teeth compressed harder and he cursed at the taste of copper in his mouth. The small sting of pain was nothing to other wounds he had experienced, and of course a little blood did nothing to phase him, but it drew him back to the reality of the situation.</p><p> </p><p><em>I can't. She'd feel it or I'd be an idiot and give something away with my big mouth and the shit would really hit the fan. </em> He had enough to redeem himself for and enough to deal with without adding to it. He'd have to get her to talk about it sometime in the future. "Damn. I hate doing things the normal way," he grunted as he  tugged on his jeans. "Everything could be so easy if things would just fall into place, but no..." He slipped out the door with a glance to make sure she was good and out for the moment. The last thing he really needed was a replay of the night before. </p><p> </p><p><em>I need to kill something before I lose it. </em>His instinct was to go out on a rampage and gorge, though he could probably last another night. It would be better for him to be out of the way to give Dwayne his own time with her, but he really, really wanted to do some damage. He absently ran a taloned hand against the stone of the tunnel's wall, his mind so occupied that he didn't hear the slash and squeal of the stress as the rocks gave way to the violation. He paused at the crossing that could take him to the main room. Distant music from the rock box gave away that there was at least someone in there, but he found that he didn't particularly want to share this latest nugget with David or Marko. Pack or not, it wasn't their damn business. He stared at the rock in front of him, vaguely noting the throbbing in his fingers as he wedged them deeper into the wall he leaned against. <em>Could always go for a long flight. Calm myself down, if I even <strong>want </strong>to calm down, </em>he reasoned, the rage bubbling up into through his veins now that he was far enough away from Jinny to give in. It disturbed him that he was taking that much care to keep it from her, but he didn't dare have her wake again and think she had caused some sort of meltdown.</p><p> </p><p>"You taking a breather between rounds?"</p><p> </p><p>"Fuck!" Paul hissed through his teeth and turned a little too fast. Dwayne shouldn't have been able to catch him unaware.</p><p> </p><p><em>Gotta stop thinkin’ so hard. </em>He couldn't come up with much of a reply, so he shrugged and moved his hand to his pocket before he remembered that he had left his cigarettes on his nightstand. "Paul? What happened?" Dwayne's voice was wary, not trying to outright accuse, but Paul didn't need any vampiric abilities to read between the lines.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm fine. She's sleepin'," he reasoned, finally turning to face the other vampire.</p><p> </p><p>"It's early. I thought I felt…," Dwayne observed, and his eyes narrowed as he focused on Paul's hand. "What did you do to yourself?"</p><p>           </p><p>The blond pulled his hand away from the wall and made a face at how his fingernails were nearly ground to nubs, his cuticles bleeding freely. He stuck them in his mouth, though he really didn't need to. It would stop soon enough, though it would be a nuisance for the rest of the evening. "Where you been?" he asked, immediately regretting his sharp tone.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne didn't take it wrong or had nothing to hide, because he only casually lifted a shopping bag. "Figured I could use clean sheets. I've already got enough against me," he added wryly. “Picked up some other things just in case. You two have it out?"</p><p> </p><p>He shook his head, unable to focus his nausea into words. "No."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne studied his best friend before his infamous cool broke into an exasperated expression. "Come on, don't make me force it out of you."</p><p> </p><p>Paul opened his mouth and glanced towards the hall that would lead toward where the others were. "Lend me a cig and we'll talk," he finally said as he headed back up the tunnels. Dwayne shrugged but followed, not commenting as Paul led the way into Dwayne’s room. "You probably need to know, anyway."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne frowned and let the bag drop to the floor before he pulled out his lighter and a pack of the brand of choice of the last smoker he had fed from. "Things go wrong?"</p><p> </p><p>"No, not really. I just don't think the others need to know, at least not right now. I dunno, maybe I'm getting ahead of myself-"</p><p> </p><p>"Well I can't tell you unless you spill what's going on," the other vampire remarked, tossing him a cig after he'd selected one for himself. </p><p> </p><p>Paul caught it but frowned. "You got anything stronger?" He sighed at Dwayne's raised eyebrow. </p><p> </p><p>"Paul..."</p><p> </p><p>"Fine, fine," the blond sighed, glancing around before making a face at the bed and taking a seat on the dilapidated armchair that resided as a catch-all in a corner. </p><p> </p><p>Dwayne rolled his eyes and sat at the foot of his bed. "I'm assuming you didn't bring me in here to seduce me, man. Spill it or I'm taking my stuff back." His jab of humor was brushed off by the other vampire, who only stared at his hands as they fumbled the unlit cigarette. His tone softened slightly. He'd only seen Paul completely lose it a few times, most notably the night in the video store when he'd found Jinny and been unable to wake her. While this mood wasn't as frantic, it was still a red flag that something was up. "What is it?"</p><p> </p><p>"We're going to have more of an uphill battle than we thought," he began, slowly recounting the odd conversation between him and Jinny, what she’d admitted, the memories he'd been privy to. "I didn't mean to just jam myself in her head, but you should've seen her face. It was like any ego crumbled in on itself. It was fucking painful to see. And she kept trying to brush it off, saying it could have been worse.”</p><p> </p><p>"It still shouldn't have happened." Paul raised an eyebrow at Dwayne's simple reaction until he looked his friend in the face. The dark-haired vampire was shaking, literally shaking, eyes golden, as he fought to keep himself restrained. </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, that was my reaction. I just...shit, I know I didn't have the best life growing up, took a strap from my uncle once, but then that was the end of that. My mom didn't do anything like that after I was like four! Sure I got into fights, but no lover of mine would’ve ever acted like that to me.”</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne nodded. "I grew up too fast for my family to try much, and they were always supportive. They just sent me to my room a lot until I figured out how to scale out the window. I fucking hate dickheads who gang up on a woman for being a person." He paused thoughtfully, his chin balanced on his fingertips.  "Who the hell does that to a little girl when they're too pissed to aim!?" he blurted, jumping off the bed and pacing the floor. “Who the fuck would do any of that to their kid? I know we kill people we fuck, but we're vampires? I wouldn’t fucking do <em>that. </em>Shit, I’ve let women go if they decided they weren’t into it or ready.”</p><p> </p><p>"Her whole life was full of assholes," Paul supplied.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne's face showed his agreement. "That was it?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul nodded slowly. "I think so, but I'm not really sure. It felt honest, at any rate, though it could be how she’s spun it to herself. She mentioned getting lectured a lot, ignored a lot. I wanted to ask, but I didn't. Wanted to see for myself, but thought better of it."</p><p> </p><p>The other vampire frowned but nodded. "She'd be pissed. You thinkin' she got talked down to a lot?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul shrugged. "It would make sense when you think of some of the things she's said, some of the things she's done, where her mind automatically goes. She's got an ego, but it shatters way too easily. I'm not saying it's all her family or people she tried to date, but somewhere along the line she got hurt bad enough to make her question a hell of a lot."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne nodded, a fingernail absently wedging its way between his teeth as he paced. "No kidding. There's a lot of fear there that she won't measure up. We probably don't help that, either."</p><p> </p><p>"That's why I thought you should know. I can only get so far with that-"</p><p> </p><p>"What the hell am I supposed to do? I'm not a therapist!" Dwayne snapped. He quickly composed himself and sighed. "Sorry. Just...shit, what do we <em>do </em>about this? The situation is hard enough! I'm fighting my own losing battle as it is!"</p><p> </p><p>Paul shrugged. "I'm out of ideas. She opened up to me, but she's only going to open up so much. She already feels like she failed because she dropped out of college-"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne snorted. "If it's one thing I've learned, there are other options. Compared to us, if that's the most she's done-"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, bro, but I think people around her took it personally, put a huge weight on shit like that."</p><p> </p><p>"Then it's a good thing she's with us," Dwayne growled. "I'll see what I can do. Fuck!" he sighed, his shoulders slumping as he paused. Without warning he growled and smashed his foot into the wall, leaving a dent where his boot impacted it. </p><p> </p><p>Paul snorted. "I'm not used to having to talk to someone I'm screwing, let alone deal with this. This is probably retribution for every stupid thing we've ever done."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne smiled bitterly and moved to his books momentarily before he pulled out a small bag and some papers that he tossed to Paul. "Thanks for telling me. You didn't have to."</p><p> </p><p>The blond shrugged. "I wouldn't set you up like that, and she'll need both of us. We're in this together, man. I know what I said last night, but you're right. We're both fighting an uphill battle in one way or another. She’s liked everything we’ve done so far, but just don't try anything too..." </p><p> </p><p>Dwayne nodded his understanding as he fell back onto the mattress. One hand sank back through his hair and he sighed as he stared up at the ceiling. "Why are we doing this? Why the fuck are we even bothering? I mean we're vampires. We don't <em>do </em>this type of thing! We take what we want, we terrorize stupid people, we do whatever we please. Yet all I want to do is grab her up and make it better."</p><p> </p><p>Paul snorted from where he was carefully rolling two joints. "Welcome to my world. And I guess you know why." Dwayne craned his head up and stared at him, the uncertain question for once obvious in his otherwise give-nothing-away expression. "Because of the bond," Paul finished quickly, looking back down at his task.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, right. The bond," Dwayne agreed, his head quickly plopping back down onto the mattress, his eyes turning crimson under his closed lids the more he processed what Paul had told him. "You going out tonight?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul shook his head. "I want to. I really would love to tear into some throats, but I'd better not. If she woke up again without me there. I feel bad, dude. It's like we're either keeping her in bed or asleep.”</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne nodded, but didn't open his eyes. "Yeah, I thought of that too. We'll take her out soon enough. I wanted to wait until after we marked her, but now, I dunno, I still think if she had an opportunity she'd run for it."</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, me too. It's hard work keeping her mind off of that option. I'll help her clean up tonight and maybe she'll calm down some."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne nodded. "Just have her come find me tomorrow night. I'll try to think of something by then."</p><p> </p><p>Paul smirked. "Yeah. Just remember that not everyone is an herbivore like you-" he laughed as his friend flipped him the bird, and waited until his arm was down to toss him a joint, smirking when it landed on Dwayne's forehead. </p><p> </p><p>"Damn it, Paul-"</p><p> </p><p>"You going out tonight?"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne snorted and rose up on his elbow. "Are you kidding me? Nah, I'm fine for the moment. Paul nodded and lit up, letting them both fall into silence. There was way too much to think about, and none of it seemed to give them any ground or reprieve. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0045"><h2>45. Fascination</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Paul attempts to figure out what Jinn's deal with Dwayne is.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Jin-jin. Come on, babe. It's no good sleepin' all night." </p><p> </p><p>Jinny groaned and pushed back through the fog to focus on Paul's eyes above her. Her mind slowly snapped back into place and she made a face. "You put me to sleep?"</p><p> </p><p>He had the decency to try to feign apology. "You needed it."</p><p> </p><p>“I’m fine, Paul.” He didn't wince when she smacked his arm and that riled her all the more. "If I sleep any more I'm going to turn into some sort of fairly-tale princess-"</p><p> </p><p>Paul tugged her to a sitting position. "If that means I get to make out with you to wake you up, I'm all for that." She would have retorted had he not had the foresight to place a takeout box in her lap. "I'm learning proper defense," he laughed, shaking his head in awe as she tore into the portions of pancakes and bacon. </p><p> </p><p>"Wha? I have a high metabolism!" she mumbled around a mouth crammed full of pancake, shoving him when he laughed and plopped next to her. </p><p> </p><p>"Nothing wrong with that. I've just never seen anything like it," he admitted, though in the back of his head it hit him that it must have made it even harder for her on the streets given how much she hadn't been eating when they’d found her. She’d held herself back when he’d been posing as ‘Michael,’ too caught up in trying to be polite, though now it was obvious she had to make up for that by this point. "Slow down, girl!" he hissed and made a grab for the foam box that was yanked away from him. She rolled her eyes and brandished her plastic flatware with the grace of a socialite, giving him a sarcastic look as she daintily cut a portion the size of a dime away from the rest. "Okay, forget it, <em>that’s</em>the weirdest thing I've ever seen," he corrected.</p><p> </p><p>She stuck her tongue out at him and handed him the fork. "There, you can have that," she muttered before going after the bacon. He rolled his eyes, but had to admit that bantering with her was always new and interesting. </p><p> </p><p>She slowed her pace to his relief, though she kept quiet between mouthfulls. "Look, Jinny, about earlier-"</p><p> </p><p>She kept her eyes on the food. "I shouldn't have over-reacted. It's okay," she murmured. It took all Paul had in him not to blurt out something stupid or shake some sense into her.</p><p>           </p><p>"Babe, you didn't! I'm just glad you told me-"</p><p> </p><p>"I don't wanna talk about it, Paul," she insisted, grabbing back the fork so she could stab into the pancakes once more. He shrugged and let it drop for the moment in favor of watching her lick syrup off her fingers, glad he’d told Marko to grab anything that qualified as comfort food. "Man, this is good. Pancakes are my crack..."</p><p> </p><p>"Good thing I already alerted breakfast foods anonymous," he quipped, relaxing when she chuckled softly. He waited until she had had her fill before dragging her up from the bed.</p><p> </p><p>"As much as I'd love to do it the fun way," he prefaced, flicking his tongue against one of her sticky fingers for emphasis, "I figure you'll be wantin' a bath."</p><p> </p><p>Jinny blinked. "Really? You mean it?"</p><p> </p><p>The vampire scoffed. "C'mon, we're not barbarians! We live a little different, but we have all the comforts of home, more or less," he insisted, frowning as he bent and rifled through the bags of things that had migrated to his room after her floor show in the main cavern. "Here ya go."</p><p> </p><p>She caught the robe easily enough and did her best not to show her dismay when she wrapped it around her body. “Why is the bottom half of this missing?”</p><p> </p><p>His eyes traveled to where the thin fabric stopped right below her behind and fought the urge to take her back to bed. “What? Looks great to me.”</p><p> </p><p>She rolled her eyes and muttered something about how men had no right to design women’s sleepwear before following Paul down the corridor.</p><p> </p><p>She struggled to stay right behind him, though his strides were quicker and larger than hers. "Dwayne's room," he remarked as they passed a side tunnel. She took note of its position as well as she could, grateful that it seemed to be straight down from Paul's. That made things somewhat easier. She must have been holding her breath, because he grabbed her hand and tugged her forward. "Sorry, I forget that it's harder on you to see. I've got a flashlight in my room you can keep around. It'll keep you from stumbling over stuff and going off somewhere where you could get hurt."</p><p> </p><p>"Thanks," she murmured, shuddering at the thought of how easy it would have been to fall to her death or get hopelessly lost when she had taken off the night they had first brought her to the cave. She had had nothing to lose, though. She hadn't known what they were really like. <em>Do I even know what they're like now?</em>she mused, glancing back over her shoulder towards Dwayne's room, though all she saw was blackness.  </p><p> </p><p>"David's," he announced, and she could just make out an opening on the left side of the tunnel as they passed it. "Though I wouldn't go in there unannounced. He likes his privacy." She nodded, knowing he'd be able to see the movement. It occurred to her how nice a thing privacy was. For all their care and foresight, apparently it wasn't a big concern that she had no place to herself in this weird layout, that she was just supposed to migrate from one room to the next. <em>What if they’re both out for the night? What if I don’t feel like crashing with either one of them? </em>She filed it away as something to take up with David later, along with the little point of insisting that they let her out of the damn cave before she went batty.</p><p> </p><p>"You can take a nice long bath tonight, and that way you can just freshen up and have time with Dwayne tomorrow," Paul was saying. She hoped his back was turned because she stuck her tongue out at him. It wasn't that she didn't like Dwayne, but something about him just set her on edge, even scared the crap out of her. Besides that, she didn't like being told what her plans were every minute of the night, or being passed back and forth. </p><p> </p><p>"You going out then?" she asked tentatively.</p><p> </p><p>"It'll be better if I give you two your space. And I need to feed. It's been a while for me."</p><p> </p><p>"You didn't have to add that," she grumbled, nails digging into his hand as they curved through a few twists and turns, being careful to listen to every time he told her to lift her feet or veer more to the right or left even though she was ticked off at him.</p><p> </p><p>"Jin-"</p><p> </p><p>"No, it's fine. I get it. Whatever," she grumbled. "You won't stick around just for the first night?" </p><p> </p><p>He tugged her into a room and she felt both of his hands on her shoulders. "Stay put a sec," he urged before the touch left her and his body moved away. She bit her lip and waited, shivering at the cave's cool air and the thought that he could so easily walk off and not return. The sound of unknown gurgling made it even worse. Her fears had just started to rise when light bubbled up from a barrel near the far wall. She watched Paul's shadowed figure move along the perimeter of the enclosure, touching a torch to other barrels until the room was filled with a somewhat-homey glow.</p><p> </p><p>Her breath stalled in her throat as she stared where he had led her. In all her stories, she had described the cave as dusty, grimy, creepy, and as sort of a rustic hideaway, but this was absolutely grand. The ceiling was quite high and dotted with stalagtites that glittered with some sort of ore or salt or crystal when the firelight caught them right. The more she looked above her, she could make out cracks and openings where the glitter of stars could be seen against the blue night. The room itself was fairly large without being huge, and its walls glittered with all kinds of rocky knobs that must have been infused with the same sort of special mineral that the stalagtites held. The floor was fairly smooth brown stone that sloped downwards to what looked like a large, but shallow pond. </p><p> </p><p>He smiled at her shocked expression. "It's natural water. Comes in from an underground spring. There's also an inlet outside at the beach, but I figured you'd want your privacy. We usually don't use this place much."</p><p> </p><p>"Why? It's gorgeous!" she breathed, then laughed at the details she hadn't noticed. Old metal shelves had been dragged over to the pool's edge and stocked with the various bath supplies Marko had brought back for her, and there was even an old basket for a hamper and an old coat rack for her towels. "You're too much."</p><p> </p><p>He grinned and leaned in to kiss her hair. "It's nice, but we usually just prefer to jump in the ocean wherever we're at. It's just as good as anything else."</p><p> </p><p>"I suppose salt water doesn't have an effect on you. Wait, aren't vampires supposed to have a thing about running water?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul shrugged. "Old wives’ tale. It's more the fast walking water we have to worry about," he teased and she rolled her eyes as she undid her robe.</p><p> </p><p>"You gonna join me?"</p><p> </p><p>His eyes glittered, but he took a seat on the stone. "Honey, if I join you you'll never get clean. You do your thing and I'll enjoy the view."</p><p> </p><p>She chuckled and carefully slid a foot into the water. "I don't need to worry about current or anything, do I?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul shook his head. "We think it may go through a few rooms, but it's probably under the rock. This pool is shallow and the place it moves through is so small you'd never squeeze through it." She nodded, but still took care to move slowly into the frigid water, her teeth instinctively chattering until her body acclimated.  "Sorry, haven't figured out how to heat it yet."</p><p> </p><p>"It's alright. Just takes a little getting used to," she managed before taking in a deep breath and sinking below the water. The crisp cold closed over and around her and when she bobbed back up she was crying out. </p><p> </p><p>"Better?" Paul asked, a bemused expression on his face. She splashed his way but he was too far out of reach.  He leaned back on his elbows and watched as she snagged the shampoo from the shelf, looking for all the world that he was regretting his decision to not join her. </p><p> </p><p>"You're sure you won't stick round tomorrow?" she finally asked as she worked her hair into a good lather. It felt absolutely heavenly and she soon relaxed despite the cold water. </p><p> </p><p>His hand clenched near his thigh, but his expression seemed to focus on her words rather than between his legs. "Jin, Dwayne's a great guy."</p><p> </p><p>"So I've been told by a lot of people," she snorted, turning her back before she had to look at his face.</p><p> </p><p>"C'mon, babe. That's not fair." He realized how dumb a reply that was when the bar of soap came hurtling his way. Thankfully, his reactions were as fast as his mouth and he caught it before it smashed him in the nose. "Stoppit, you're gonna need this," he pointed out before tossing it back to her, hoping he wasn't making an incredibly bad choice. When she scooped it up from the water she thankfully used to it wash herself and not for more target practice. </p><p> </p><p>"Not fair? That's a great thing to say, Paul," she hissed, inhaling deeply when she tried not to start shouting. "I could say a lot about things that aren't fair, but you've made it perfectly clear that that's the way they are."</p><p> </p><p>"That still doesn't mean you have to be hard on him. If that's the case, then you should be feeling just the same about me, too."</p><p> </p><p>She frowned. He had a point. She wasn't sure why Paul seemed that much more accessible, especially given some of the circumstances, but he was plain easier to take to. "Yeah, well-"</p><p> </p><p>"He's been just as patient with you as I have, he's been just as dumb as I have. We're pretty equal on all fronts," he added, frowning when the bar of soap seemed to ground into her skin, she was rubbing so hard. He had seen some particularly hot bath scenes in his time, and this was not quite what he had thought he would be a voyeur to. "Calm down! You're gonna take your skin off!"</p><p> </p><p>"You don't get it, do you?" she huffed, slamming the soap onto the lip of the pool with a wet thump. </p><p> </p><p>He frowned. "I guess not. Why don't you let me in on it?"</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head. "You'll take offense." To seal the deal, she dunked herself under the water. Paul had no clue if she had intended to hide under the surface for any length of time, but she shot back up sputtering and gasping.</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, it's kind of cold. That's the other reason we really don't use this much," he admitted, hitting the floor when the shampoo bottle flew his way. "Stop that! That stuff was expensive!" he grumbled.</p><p> </p><p>"I didn't ask you to get me nice things!"</p><p> </p><p>"I think you're probably the first girl I've met, then, who didn't want that type of thing." He didn't mean to sound so huffy, but the argument was getting ridiculous.</p><p> </p><p>Jinny shrugged and turned to grab a razor from the shelf. Paul paused to appreciate the glimmer of her wet skin in the firelight. They had been right in that she wasn't a model, but there was something to be said for her slight build versus her curves, her skin all slick and glittering against a crystalline backdrop. "Be careful with that. With how pissed you are, I don't want you to take something off."</p><p> </p><p>"I'm fine," she grumbled, settling a leg on the lip of the pool before moving the razor up her calf in smooth, quick strokes. </p><p> </p><p>"Well while you're fine, why don't you tell me what's on your mind?" he urged.  Her head was bent, her face focused on her task, a curtain of wet hair obstructing her face.  His mind clicked over the possibilities as he resisted the urge to dart inside her head. With what he knew, with things she had been sensitive to, what the hell could put her off Dwayne, besides everything she had mentioned? What would she possibly think he'd take offense to?</p><p> </p><p>It probably didn't help his case that he had to stop his laughter as soon as the lightbulb clicked on. She jerked and hissed, and he winced upon smelling the slight metallic aroma that came from her direction. "Sorry. You might wanna keep that thing away from you until I say what I have to say," he added. She straightened and raised her eyebrow.</p><p> </p><p>"Please enlighten me," she snapped at the amused look on his face.</p><p> </p><p>He allowed himself a good long look at the front of her and licked his lips at the water droplets pearling against her nipples, the glistening hairs that had shown up between her legs since she'd last shaved, the enlarged shadow of her silhouette against the far wall. "You're scared to death of him because he's hot."</p><p> </p><p>"I am not!" she sputtered and dropped her razor. Cursing, she bent and felt in the pool for it, all fears of any sudden drop offs or currents apparently forgotten.</p><p> </p><p>"That's the only thing I can think of," he admitted and forced himself to get to his feet, hoping that she wouldn't focus on how distended his jeans were in front. "The only thing difference between him and me at the moment is what happened the other night - and I'm pretty much in the same boat anyway - and his looks." She ducked her head and immediately became fascinated with the removal of stubble on her other leg. "I'm not pissed," he offered.</p><p> </p><p>Her head darted up. "You're not?"</p><p> </p><p>Paul shrugged, completely baffling any preconceptions she’d about his reaction. "Do we get jealous of each other? Sure, sometimes, but we both have you. It's not something you can undo. And I may have a lot of thoughts on myself, but I know I'm not hard on the eyes," he admitted. She shook her head, quietly shocked at his simple acceptance of such a fact, his need to not question it.  "And I'm not blind. A lot of girls have a thing for Dwayne. Lot of guys, too," he added with a smirk. "'Sides, given how you reacted with me the past few nights, I've got nothing to complain about. We get along for the most part. Not once were you trying to sneak out on me," he pointed out, shaking his head when she said nothing, but continued on to work on her underarms as if he wasn't there. "I'm right, aren't I? You get all flustered cause he's pretty. The only reason you aren't doing that with me is I don't give you the chance," he added, his grin broadening when she narrowed her eyes at him.</p><p> </p><p>"You just don't get it," she sighed as she sat up on the edge of the pool, one foot idly kicking through the water. "Guys like him, hell, guys like you, don't go for girls like me," she muttered, tracing the line of her smooth thigh with a thumb. </p><p> </p><p>He sat behind her and snorted. "Says who?"</p><p> </p><p>"It's law," she shot back. "At least where I come from."</p><p> </p><p>"Well you're not going back there so you don't hafta worry bout it," he retorted. </p><p> </p><p>"Uh-huh."</p><p> </p><p>"If you're waiting for us to change our minds you can just keep waitin', cause it ain't gonna happen," he growled.</p><p> </p><p>"Uh-huh."</p><p> </p><p>"Jinny-"</p><p> </p><p>"Paul, look. I appreciate all your concern, but look at it from my perspective. This is new to me. Have you ever stopped and thought why I'm in my twenties and didn't give it up till now? Sure, I have scruples, I have baggage, but I'm a modern woman!" </p><p> </p><p>"You'd have to be to be shacking up with two vampires," he added, grinning despite the glare she leveled at him. </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, yeah. Guys have it easier, Paul. Or maybe you just know how to get what you want better, I don't know. But did you ever stop and think that part of the reason I waited til now besides...well, what you saw, is because no one was interested?" Her anger died down to a quiet murmur. "I mean yeah, I keep busy, I keep to myself...but some days it was like I didn't even exist."</p><p> </p><p>She waited for him to spout some inspirational bullshit, and whirled at his next words. "Well good."</p><p> </p><p>"What?" Her voice rose in pitch until she sounded like a mouse that was stepped on.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm not afraid to say it: good. If that means that you got here and ended up with us, then I'm glad." She opened her mouth and shut it, tried again and couldn't come up with a damn thing to say.</p><p> </p><p>"I can't decide if I should take offense or accept it as a compliment," she finally stated, rocking backwards onto her elbows. “But come on, be real. If it wasn’t for the stupid bond, you’d never have noticed me.”</p><p> </p><p>Paul raised an eyebrow. “Pretty sure you were impossible not to notice, the way you came out of nowhere and punched David in the face. What are you...oh <em>hell  </em>no!" he growled, plucking the razor out of her hand the moment she aimed it south of the border. "You are not doing that with how worked up you are! I'll do it." He had to admit, her expression was golden.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, I don't <em>think </em>so!" she snapped and yanked the object back. </p><p> </p><p>He shrugged. "Then leave it. You're fine, anyway. Sometimes I think women go to all that trouble for yourselves more than us. I mean it's appreciated," he added, "but we're not as picky as you think."</p><p> </p><p>"Tell me about it," she muttered under her breath and he rolled his eyes. "So, if you're not going to be there tomorrow...is there anything I should know?" she asked as she dipped back in the pool to rinse off.</p><p> </p><p>Paul frowned. "About Dwayne?"</p><p> </p><p>"No, about Bonny Prince John-" He didn't think twice about dunking her head under, and as expected the barrage of splashes hit him square in the chest when she breached the surface. </p><p> </p><p>"Nah, there's nothing to worry about. I'm not quite sure what kind of food he'll get for you-"</p><p> </p><p>She shrugged and reached for the towel. "Food is food, as long as it's not moving I'm fine."</p><p> </p><p>Paul grinned and helped her out of the water. "And you may want to give him a little time before you find him tomorrow. He likes to sleep in."</p><p> </p><p>She raised an eyebrow. "He what?"</p><p> </p><p>He laughed. "Yeah, I know. He's never been an early riser and saw no reason to start once he was turned. Hell, if the world comes to an end there'll be three things left: cockroaches, Cher, and Dwayne because he slept through the whole damn thing. Which really blows because he'd either stake himself or kill her but feed from the roaches. If you really wanna see him pissed, just play that Believe song and run the hell away." His laughter increased at the incredulous look she gave him. </p><p> </p><p>"What?"</p><p> </p><p>"Yeah, he has this thing about Cher. We're not really sure where that started, but he really, really can't stand her. The longest injury I ever had to heal was his gift to me when I gave him some of her CDs for Christmas one year," he went on, howling at the look on her face.</p><p> </p><p>"And you wonder why I have a hard time dealing with this," she remarked as she tugged on the robe and began working on her hair with the towel. </p><p> </p><p>"Just give him a chance. I think you'll be surprised. It probably counts more that you aren't throwing yourself at him because of his looks," he admitted, and swiftly shut his trap when she opened her mouth to question the odd statement. "Here. Don't want you catching cold." He led her over to one of the fire barrels where a chair had been placed, and before she could question him he plunked her down and pulled a comb from God knew where. She was about to protest, but his fingers began working against her scalp, lifting her hair with the comb to remove the water. The fire hissed every so often when droplets of water spattered into the barrel, and the heat helped to dry her hair as much as Paul's patient ministrations. She yawned, the combination of the bath, the heat of the fire, and Paul's expert fingers against her scalp leaving her warm and exhausted. She wasn't sure how long it took to get her hair dry, but he had to shake her awake.</p><p>           </p><p>"C'mon, sleepy," he murmured in her ear, and she yawned and moaned softly when his mouth glided up and down her neck. She blinked and blearily glanced up into his face, didn't fight him when he tugged her to her feet and carried her back towards his room. There was an odd look on his face, almost tender, but guarded, like he didn't quite want her to see it. Maybe it was just the shadows from the fire. Either way, she didn't have time to question it because as soon as they entered the tunnels, there was no light to see by.</p>
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<a name="section0046"><h2>46. I'll Be Your Mirror</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Jinny spends her first one on one night with Dwayne, and they fumble through their connection.</p><p>Or, intimacy and smut, because we all need something this week.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jinny chewed the inside of her lower lip as she slowly made her way down the tunnel to Dwayne's room. Thankfully, it was a straight shot or else she never would have been able to navigate the bends and passages that all looked alike. Her teeth worried at the tender flesh as she slowly crept forward, breath held until it became an absolute necessity to inhale. The pain wasn't enough to stop the habit, and she switched to sucking at the small wound as she pulled her robe tighter around her body, her eyes flicking about to check her surroundings. </p><p> </p><p>Paul hadn't been there when she had woken up. <em>Stop it. You knew he was going out. You knew you can’t get out of tonight. </em>Still, it would’ve gone a long way if he’d have been there to calm her nerves before...whatever was going to happen. He had taken enough care to set out food and an outfit he thought would be appropriate, but apparently his need to get out of the way and find a good meal took precedence. </p><p> </p><p>She grimaced at the thought of him going off to feed and what all that could mean. There was no description that even her writer's brain could come up with for the arrangement she'd been thrust into, except maybe weird. Really, really weird. She'd always written off matters of the heart as not for her, a fact that was easily verified by the lack of offers or how easily her few attempts at relationships fell apart. In the end, it was easier to write about sex and relationships, to be able to oversee all sides and aspects to them, instead of actually taking part. Now, to be told she belonged with the vampires, that she was permanently bound to Paul and Dwayne with no questions asked...somehow she had never quite seen that as life goal. There was being thrown into the deep end, then there was <em>this.</em> </p><p> </p><p>The sex she was amazing, she had no argument there, but that could only compensate for the rest so much, could only last so long before the inevitable morning after when her brain came down off its cloud and actually functioned again. That had already started and would always continue, judging by the rogue tingling she got up her leg whenever one or the other went out to feed. <em>They’re doing their best. Maybe. </em>It was all so frustrating.</p><p> </p><p>Despite being a fan of the movie they came from, Jinny was only starting to learn about who they actually were, and she wasn't quite sure what she really thought. It was one thing to watch vampire movies, but to have to live around the lifestyle was another matter entirely.  If that was the only thing to get used to besides the whole relationship weirdness, she probably could have handled it without too much introspection, but... </p><p> </p><p>It wasn't even a full week into things yet and Jinny was just starting to learn about the boys, themselves, and how off-target she was in some instances.  Paul...her lips curved upward despite her cynicism. He had proven to be sweet and a decent teacher about the way of life she was suddenly facing. True, he was a little brash and too loud in his honesty, but it worked for him. He was fun, but she couldn't be sure if his sincerity was completely real. He was a hell of an actor when it came to getting his way.  She'd been at the receiving end of that enough times to know that she could never know for sure if he was thrilled to be with her, or looking forward to the next hunt.  </p><p> </p><p><em>I’ll never be enough.</em>That was fact backed up by the proof that his room was empty and he was out at the Boardwalk hunting. It wasn't like he <em>had</em>to seduce every chick he fed from. It just happened to be a perk of the job. He'd admitted as much to her face. <em>I don’t know what to do. I don’t want to cut him off from his whole way of life, but what the hell? </em>Jinny felt her smile grow cold and fade away as her fists clenched. </p><p> </p><p>That was the trouble with fictional characters: when they were just scribbles on a page they belonged to everyone, anyway, but she didn't see any sign of that changing now that things were "real." If anything, it was harder to accept now that she was in the thick of things, part of the equation, and had to see it play out right in front of her face. They could give every vampiric, pack-related reason they wanted, but it was still disgusting. And she didn't have very many other options on her side.</p><p>           </p><p>It wasn't a bad life by any means, but it couldn’t last. Bond or no bond, marks or no marks, they’d get bored and monogamy obviously wasn’t in their wheelhouse. Maybe if she was allowed the same liberties…but that didn’t appeal, either. <em>Face it. You want them to want only you. You want to be with them. </em>It was a frightening revelation, one she didn’t like admitting to herself. She wasn’t about to name the feeling, it would only make things more real. They’d keep her because it would be too toxic to kick her out now that the marks were on, and they’d grow to resent her. Or they’d keep her around out of politeness and obligation and eventually forget about her. "Stupid fate and vampire blood," she hissed.</p><p> </p><p>After a long period of being locked in her head, it occurred to her that she leaned against the outside of Dwayne's door and sooner or later he'd be waking up and wondering where she had gotten to. <em>I’m not a damn puppy or latchkey kid. I’m supposed to be their damn lover. Though I guess this is still new. Whatever this is. </em></p><p> </p><p>"Damn," she sighed, flipping the end of the robe's sash lazily. She wasn't feeling up to pleasing anyone or playing the sex kitten after the line of thought she'd been engaged in. What she wanted was a soft couch, warm blankets, a weepy movie, popcorn and soda, and for everyone else to fuck off. Her fingers ran slowly down the cool knobs of stone as she briefly considered how he'd take her not showing up. Her teeth grasped the inside of her cheek and she winced. She wasn't brave enough to try that with him. Paul, maybe, though her luck he'd take it personally - or claim to - and then she'd have massive guilt. </p><p> </p><p>Jinny just didn't get it. They both acted like she was some amazing thing when she was with them, but she knew very well they were probably scoring more than blood. Though if she went out to the Boardwalk and started flirting it would probably cause the apocalypse. <em>If I ever get to go there.</em>So far, her life was resigned to the cave and the cave alone, mostly because she couldn't figure out a damn way out of the tunnels. They were supposed to be getting to know each other and all that, but it was a claustrophobic way of life that made her feel like a warped Persephone hidden away from the sun. </p><p> </p><p><em>I could see what happens if I just don’t go in. </em>She didn’t have it in her, though, and didn’t want to see what happened if she tried to put one against the other. That wasn’t fair to any of them. "Damn it," she whispered, pursing her lips as she looked upwards, hoping for an answer but finding only stalactites. "Don't fall in over your head! Don't start caring. Just have fun and deal with it when it ends," she advised herself, sighing and adjusting the clothes Paul had laid out for her. She’d been tempted to ignore them in favor of some of the things Marko had snuck her, but she was also smart enough to realize that she still had to get Dwayne on her side, so to speak. If he thought she was favoring Paul more than him, that just wouldn’t work. She could suffer through being chilly for a bit, though the fleece jammies that were calling her name from Paul’s room were going to make an appearance sooner than later.</p><p> </p><p>Her robe was comfortable pale pink cotton, but it would have been nice to have more of it instead of the hem that ended right at the base of her ass. Likewise, the pink camisole and matching boy shorts were cute, but obviously designed by a lingerie company that had no idea as to what comfort really was. Jinny wasn't sure if vampires had to worry much about temperature changes, but she was feeling the cave's chill. She tugged the shorts towards her legs before making a face when they rode up to cradle her snugly. She could be stubborn and argue all her points, or she could go where there were probably warm covers and a hotter male to curl up with. <em>Fuck it, </em>she thought. There were worse things than being weak - like being dead from pneumonia. </p><p> </p><p>Entering Dwayne's room was like heading into the darkest jungle without the leaves and the animals. Paul hadn't been exaggerating when he'd said Dwayne liked his sleep. It was dark enough to lose the Stay puff Marshmallow Man. Jinny quickly fumbled in the robe's pocket for the small flashlight she'd been urged to keep with her in the tunnels. The beam was large enough to get a decent layout and she soon found candles and a lighter that would take the place of a lamp. From there, navigated the position of the fire barrel, the vampires' answer to overhead lighting. "It's amazing they all don't go blind," she snorted, relaxing as more of the room became visible. </p><p> </p><p>The cavern she was in was a little more organized than Paul's, and there were a few surprising personal quirks scattered throughout. A scattering of prints hung by some unknown method against the stone walls, though whether they had been lifted from some art shop or had actually been done by the vampire, she couldn't begin to guess, let alone picture the bad-ass killer hunched over canvas with a paintbrush or ink. He wasn't a complete mystery, but he didn't go out of his way to provide any personal information. He wasn't as accessible as Paul and rarely offered a further glimpse unless it became necessary. </p><p> </p><p>It was true that she hadn't known either personally for all that long, but she had watched them enough. Paul preferred to offer information, true or not, to put victims at ease or to seduce. Dwayne was an incredible actor in his own right, but he usually depended on the image, mystique, and the sexual vibe he gave off, then improvised with whatever situation that brought him. There was nothing wrong with that, but it was disconcerting and made her wonder if she was mostly Paul's and he was there to reap the benefits. His behavior as soon as he’d had a moment away from her only confirmed her suspicions, no matter what he said.</p><p> </p><p>Jinny fought the sigh and continued her inspection of Dwayne's personal space. A few milk crates were crammed with books. That didn't surprise her, but the titles were as across the map as one could get. Nonfiction, best sellers, classic titles, even two or three children's books. She raised a brow at those, smiling slightly until the ragged volumes by the Marquis de Sade caught her eye, inducing silent panic. Oddly, a massive history of celibacy was propped next to it and its appearance calmed her, though he obviously wasn't practicing.  <em>War and Peace</em>lay open on the floor, though its pages were already worn and folded over at the corners at several different spots through the book. She felt a little better when she found some Elizabeth Engstrom and Neil Gaiman. Those she could work with. "Great. Not only am I shacking up with the undead, but one of them's Faust, to boot," she muttered, shaking her head at the various nonfiction texts and biographies stacked neatly beside the milk crates.</p><p> </p><p>There were tapes and CDs off to one side, though it didn't seem to be as big of a collection as Paul's. She was a little disconcerted by skateboard and the basketball that were laying among everything else. None of them seemed to be outright jocks, but she supposed it fit and balanced out the vampire magic and bad ass intimidation factor. They had been boys once, regular teenagers going through life just like everyone else. She still wasn't sure <em>when </em> they had been teenagers, but she assumed that if their images could slowly be updated, so could their interests. </p><p> </p><p>She shivered as she completed the inspection, and crossed to a worn armchair that faced the foot of the bed. His jacket sat, discarded, and although she didn’t want him getting any ideas, she couldn’t forget how much warmer it was than what she was wearing. <em>Screw it. If it’s crossing a line, he can deal.  </em>She slipped the robe off and his jacket on, figuring she could shuck it off before he woke up, and plopped down into the chair to study the figure stubbornly half-buried under the covers.</p><p> </p><p>There was no way she could keep a straight face as she studied the sprawled legs (one of which hung slightly off the bed), the arm that was slung over his eyes and nearly tangled in the half-hazard sprawl of his hair, or the relaxed muscles that contrasted the petulant purse of his mouth that showed how determined he was to get his metaphorical five more minutes.  If everything had been in a room and not a cave, she'd have sworn he was just another young dude who had slept through his alarm. And despite everything, Jinny had a distinct feeling of sympathy for Dwayne's mother if she’d had to wake <em>that</em>stubbornness up on a daily basis. </p><p> </p><p><em>Maybe he’ll sleep the night away, </em>she thought, chewing her thumbnail. There was no denying his appeal, but she definitely felt Paul's absence now that he couldn't diffuse any tension by just being himself. Dwayne was intense, serious, and impossible to read. She had the feeling that her time with him would be a polar opposite to the time she had spent with Paul: somber, quick, intense, and definitely quiet. There would be no conversation to fill the blanks, no laughter, no teasing unless she suddenly developed a death wish.  </p><p> </p><p>The body on the bed twitched abruptly, coming to life with a quick, instantaneous shudder. Jinny inhaled and stiffened as her hands unconsciously gripped the chair arms so hard that she was amazed her fingers didn't sink through the threadbare upholstery. The covers wrapped in on themselves and she watched in bemusement as the foot retracted back to the warmth of the bed. <em>Maybe he forgot and that’ll buy me a couple hours. </em></p><p> </p><p>There was a muffled curse somewhere under the blue comforter, and a temptingly bare arm slunk out, reaching blindly for a nonexistent alarm clock out of habit. So, he was an intense, serious, typical sex-driven male, undead killer, with some insanely cute habits. Her eyebrows lifted as another arm joined the first above the covers. Both stretched above the head that was half-buried in the sea of dark fabric. The coverlet rippled slowly as his body arched, the midnight cloth sliding teasingly from his jawline down his chest. Jinny bit the inside of her mouth and hissed when her teeth sunk into the same wound as before. </p><p> </p><p>Dwayne's head snapped up as his hands smoothed dark hair back into place, eyes leisurely opening. She wanted to smack him for his composure even as he woke up. <em>It really must take nuclear warfare to ruffle him,</em>she thought. Paul's words came back to her and she found it hard to fight the spreading grin. Her hand quickly pushed over her mouth to muffle the laughter that was squeezing out of her chest. </p><p>           </p><p>"What?" His voice was as smooth as it always was, unaffected by the daysleep, but his expression was so confused, ruffled in an anxious sort of way, and she could see his brain rushing to catch up with the rest of him to find the missing piece of the puzzle. When he glanced down and briefly felt his face Jinny did laugh outright, unable to restrain the noise even with his coat sleeve pressed painfully against her face. </p><p>           </p><p>"Nothing, I promise. I just remembered something!" she managed, calming so that she could remove her hand with only minimal giggles slipping through. </p><p> </p><p>"Tell me," he demanded. It wasn't the silken urging he usually used with her, but it also wasn’t the growl or impatient command. It was the personality underneath all that speaking, trying to hide the wary insecurity with tough attitude.</p><p>           </p><p>"It's nothing!" she insisted, shifting a little straighter.</p><p> </p><p>His eyebrows knit towards each other and his mouth tugged down. Jinny could almost see him quickly trying to line things up under the creases in his forehead. He would inevitably put Paul into the equation, most likely in the wrong way. She had caught him unaware, he had had no time to slide into his trademark cool, and she was starting to find this side of Dwayne absolutely fascinating.  </p><p> </p><p>"It's not important, seriously." She had no idea why she wanted to smooth over the situation. After the things he had pulled she should have been milking his discomfort, but for some reason she couldn't deal with the quiet distress that lurked in his eyes. "Just something Paul said about the Cher thing-"</p><p> </p><p>At that his face became downright disgusted and she tried to swallow the laughter. His cheeks actually started to color, though she wasn't sure how that was possible. "Why the hell did he tell you that?"           </p><p> </p><p>"It was kind of a roundabout conversation," she admitted, lip twitching as he flopped back into the covers with an eye roll, sulking. "It's not like it's something to be ashamed of-"</p><p> </p><p>"I never said I was!" he snapped, expression growing more and more sour.</p><p> </p><p><em>Well, so far we’re off to a roaring stop. </em>"Hey, I don't like her either! " Jinny retorted, noting how he relaxed slightly at that affirmation. "He wasn't trying to turn me against you, it was seriously a sideways conversation." </p><p> </p><p>Dwayne shrugged and she was sure he was contemplating rolling over in a huff. "I guess."</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes rolled and she began to pity her own mother. The way he was reacting reminded her too much of some of her own attempts at logic. "Oh come on. Don't be moody."</p><p> </p><p>"Sorry," he sighed, leaning back so his head was on the pillow but so he was angled enough to keep eye contact.  Jinny felt weirdly vulnerable seeing him like this, and him sprawled in that position was doing nothing to stop the blush from rising to her cheeks. "It takes me a while to wake up and not be irritable," he admitted.</p><p> </p><p>"It's okay. I don't mind you like this," she admitted, shrugging as she tucked her legs up under her, squirming in the chair as she adjusted her position. Confusion briefly returned to his face while he tried to figure out why the hell she was flustered to the point of rambling. <em>Why the hell can’t he ever wear clothes? I can’t focus like this! </em>"I'm not much of a morning...evening...person, either. You have every right to be in a mood, I should have waited before barging in-"</p><p> </p><p>"That was the best part of waking up," he interjected, an undercurrent of sincerity preventing it from being just a smooth line.  His dark eyes flit across her before his brain caught up with the rest of him. “I have to admit, I didn’t expect to wake up to this view,” he added, glittering eyes appraising her with more than a passing glance.</p><p> </p><p>She realized she was still wearing his coat and was torn between being apologetic and yanking it off to spite him. "You must be freezing. Come on, hop in where it's warm," he urged, making room in the bed before patting the mattress beside him. Her stomach tightened at the invitation but she shook her head and tugged his coat tighter around her body, obscuring the view underneath.</p><p> </p><p>"No, thanks, I'm good."</p><p> </p><p>One eyebrow raised. "Uh-huh, so why are you shaking? I'm not going to play this game all night. Get over here, Jin."</p><p> </p><p>Her nose wrinkled and she attempted a huff, though it was hard to look casual while shivering. "I'm fine, seriously!"</p><p> </p><p>"Jin..." he warned, though his tone downgraded into a sigh. "You're afraid of me."</p><p> </p><p>She wanted to curse him out, smack him for being so damn insightful. "Hardly," she retorted, scowling.</p><p> </p><p>"Then you're playing hard to get which means I'll just have to come get you," he reasoned, moving to leave the bed. Her face reddened as the covers slid lower, exposing just what he apparently didn't wear to bed. Jinny didn't know why her embarrassment would propel her across the room, but it urged her on until she was hovering at his bedside.</p><p> </p><p>"No sense you getting cold, too," she grumbled, glaring at his damn grin as she moved to sit on the very edge of the bed. He gave her a curious look when she remained perched as she was: eyeing the covers with longing and his profile with simple awareness. Her spine felt way too straight, she couldn't think of anything to say. All she could do was stare dumbly at her hands and just <em>know</em>he was by her, watching her, plotting something.</p><p> </p><p>She yelped when he grabbed her leg and pulled, knocking the air out of her when her head thumped against the pillow he had vacated. She started to growl out some random profanity when he easily rolled onto her, blocking out every available focal point save his face.  The panic spiraled upwards: her body became rigid, her survival instinct against embarrassment easily, and she trembled. <em>This is so damn humiliating!</em>She hadn't had any similar trouble with Paul, yet she was ready to hide under the bed when confronted with Dwayne in a one-on-one situation.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, look at me." His voice was a low rasp and she didn't question the command.  The vampire's expression was...not what she was accustomed to. There was no mask of experience and dominance that she had seen the other night, and that wall that couldn't be broken ceased to exist.  She was looking at him - <em>really</em>him. His expression was curious and his head tilted slightly as he studied her. His brows furrowed over eyes that were searching her face for some sort of answer, his entire expression devoted to figuring her out. One fingertip gently lifted to run down her cheek and she followed it with her eyes like she did at the doctor's office when they were using instruments that looked particularly wicked. </p><p> </p><p>The sound of his voice was the same as his face: there was nothing covering up what he felt, what was bothering him. Though he sounded gruff, it was obvious that his tone was from frustration. <em>It can’t be from hurt feelings, right? </em></p><p> </p><p>"Why are you so afraid of me? It was the same the other night, even when I was in you, even while you came, you were still frightened," he murmured, shaking his head like he was trying to sort out some sort of calculus problem. The end of his hair trailed across her nose and she wrinkled it, batting the offending strands away. His smile turned his face into a whole new landscape that was boyish and charming, and his chuckle was startling and addictive. It was the sound of someone who actually paid attention. </p><p> </p><p>"It's just-" she started, fading when he focused on her words. <em>Shit, I am not used to that. </em>She knew what to do when she was ignored, or engaged in an argument, or trying to get out of a situation, but this? Someone who was actually listening to her without some weird motive? She was clueless on what to do, and her ineptness made her anxiety ramp up more.</p><p> </p><p>"Go on, you can tell me," he urged, thumbing her cheek again.</p><p> </p><p>"Can't you just look in my head and figure it out?" Jinny grumbled, only half-kidding.</p><p> </p><p>"I could, but it’s not always specific, and I'd rather hear it from you instead of having to take it from your mind." His reasoning gave her pause, made her slowly think out her answer. It also slightly raised her opinion of him, though she was sure it wouldn't last. </p><p> </p><p>"Well, you're awfully good at what you do." She realized at his patient expression that she'd have to enlighten him more than that. "Not just the vampire thing, but...you...I mean you're just so intense!"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne's lip tugged slightly and his head dipped down, mouth pressing against her cheek softly. His voice was casual, but tinged with a flirtatious edge. "Yeah? I guess I never really gave that much thought," he murmured, fingers sliding behind her neck under her hair to skim up the short hairs along the nape. </p><p> </p><p>            "Sure, whatever," she hissed, shuddering before collecting herself. "Well you are. It's intimidating, and I guess I’m not sure what to do. " she managed, gritting her teeth when that mouth skimmed to her jaw. </p><p> </p><p>"Oh yeah? Practice makes perfect," he replied as his palm cupped her opposite cheek so he could hold her face to his mouth as he rubbed soft lips against the line of her jaw.</p><p> </p><p>She would have smacked him but he was listening so far and his mouth was way too good to interrupt.  "It scares me when I can't read someone," she admitted. </p><p> </p><p>His mouth pulled away and she took a long breath that did little to calm her fluttering heart. His face was thoughtful, of all things. "I can understand that. I’ll warn you that Paul told me about last night-” His hand pressed her back down the moment she tried to dart off the bed. “Jin, hey, it’s okay.”</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t need your fucking pity,” she growled.</p><p> </p><p>“Good, because I’m not giving it,” he shot back. “I’m trying to be upfront, because I wouldn’t want you to be questioning things. I’m not going to judge you. You shouldn’t have had to go through that-”</p><p> </p><p>“Shit happens-”</p><p> </p><p>“Even so, they weren’t being fair to you. But I’m not doing anything I do out of pity. I only brought it up because I get it. You’ve been hurt, and it’s hard to come back from that. I know,” he admitted, but he didn’t elaborate and his thoughts seemed to shift gears. “I just didn’t want that in the way.” Her eyes focused on his tongue when he wet his lip, his momentarily distant in thought. "I’ll admit it's not really easy for me to let my guard down. I'm not used to doing it 'cept with the guys, and even that took some time. Ask 'em and I'm sure they'll have stories," he added, thumb lightly swirling against the curve of her cheek. But I’ll try to at least give you tells to help you out, okay?” She nodded after a moment. It was a start, at least. Anything else I should know about?"</p><p> </p><p> Her brow furrowed and he went back to his original task, mouth reclaiming the spot near her ear where he had left off at. "Well...you're very...um...dominant," she managed, trying to crawl out from under him when he started placing light nips along the bend of her neck. More of that treatment and she'd forget how to think straight. </p><p> </p><p>His head raised just enough for her to see the glitter in his eyes and the sly smile on his mouth. Jinny's eyes widened and his lips pulled back into his quirk of a grin that never failed to leave her bright red.<em>Holy shit, he’s trying to seduce me! That has to stop, I don’t know what the hell to do with that! </em>The last time she’d been riding on adrenaline, now, he’d see just exactly what he wasn’t getting.</p><p> </p><p>Before she could hope to plot a counter attack, he raised on his elbows above her, his hair trailing against the sides of her face. It was almost claustrophobic, but then again, if she passed out from panic she figured he'd be more than willing to perform mouth to mouth. He chuckled and she pressed deeper into the mattress. She couldn't deal with him when he was so focused on her, couldn't attempt to be a rational human being when such intense attention hammered against her 'hide now' reflex.  </p><p> </p><p>"Only sometimes," he admitted, and he leaned down as he continued to explain, as if he was sharing a very important, very intimate secret. "You become more aggressive when you do the 'vampire thing,'" he went on, grinning around her wording. "That doesn't change who I am. It's just one of the ways I like things. It doesn't mean it's a constant, and I’d never, ever do anything you didn’t like, Jin. I don’t get off on that kind of thing.” He paused and took in her skeptical expression. “We all have protective measures. I don't like to let people in until I know I can trust them," he admitted, the glimmer in his eyes becoming more subdued and she found it slightly easier to watch him. "It's easier to hunt, easier to see potential enemies, easier to do a lot of things if you see them coming before they notice you as more than one of the gang. That's my mechanism of choice, but I’d never hurt you. I’ve got better control than that, and if you’re not about something, all you have to do is say so," he murmured, going back to the flirtatious tone he had used before. "We can't all have a saucy little mouth, a conniving mind, and a quick knee jerk," he added, pressing his lips and just the barest tip of tongue into the hollow of her throat when she leaned back her head and chuckled. It hadn't gone unnoticed that his legs were firmly pinning both her knees down from the moment he had rolled over her. </p><p> </p><p>"Yeah well, you're stubborn," she muttered, unable to come up with a better retort when he used such low tactics as logic. </p><p> </p><p>He smiled wryly, fingertips playing in her hair. "I like to have my way at times, yeah. Is it so bad to let me?" And even though that was a hell of a thing to say, there was still that part of his eyes that remained a question, wanting to know that she was okay with it. </p><p> </p><p>"Not so far, I guess," she admitted. </p><p> </p><p>"Then you'll have to trust me," he replied, both hands cradling her face. "I know it's going to be hard after everything. We have our pasts, and I’ve been used to living life a certain way and doing what I do. You didn’t see the best of us at first. The showdown with the whole Michael façade wasn't my idea," he added. "I never wanted it to go that far, to play that part, make you think that I’d…it was too thin a line. I’m not about that sort of thing with a lover."</p><p> </p><p>Her brow furrowed in surprise that he even brought it up. With how David had talked, it seemed like they saw it as nothing more than means to an end.  "Sometimes I have to be beaten over the head with a brick, but even then, it didn’t feel right, once I started paying attention. When I was bound in the cave, I mean. That isn’t you…at least not in that way. That was when I realized something had to be up, but I couldn’t tell what. It was my own fault it went that far.”</p><p> </p><p>He relaxed a little. "Still, I'm sorry you were put through that. There's no reason to blame yourself or keep reliving that.”</p><p> </p><p>Something in her warmed at his apology, but she couldn't quite let things go, given what he’d left out. "Especially when I have all the happy memories after then to take its place," she muttered, sarcasm bubbling up from her hidden well. </p><p> </p><p>To her surprise, he made a face at her, just like a regular guy his supposed age would. "I'm not gonna fight with you on that. I fucked up, I’m still trying to figure out what’s going on and what the hell I’m feeling and what everything means. Right now it's you and me, no one else. That's why I want to take tonight nice and slow," he added, his amusement showing at her startled expression. "You don't think I'd take my time with you?"</p><p> </p><p>"Well, I mean I'm already broken in, so to speak," she admitted, averting her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"So? I want to get to know you," he drawled. While the innuendo was still in plain view, there was also an actual note of truth in the words.</p><p> </p><p>"Didn't we already do that?" she retorted. It was hard to keep her eyes on both of his hands when they insisted on working on their own at different times. His mouth came down across hers lightly, as if he only intended it to be a whisper, but then he lingered until she could just barely taste him. </p><p> </p><p>"Not enough for me," he replied, mouth moving hers as he spoke. She barely had time to feel the soft touch before he took her by the hips and rolled so she straddled him. Jinny stiffened. She hated that position. It made her feel so exposed and open. "I have an idea for tonight to teach you a very important lesson," he went on, eyes taking her in, hands sliding under the sides of his jacket to stroke her sides.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, I got cold, I-” Her mouth shut at his low rumble, at the feel of his large hands through the thin fabric. She swallowed hard, his reaction instant and easy to feel from her position.</p><p> </p><p>"Fuck, you're so hot," he breathed, tongue wetting his lips, dark eyes locked on her. She should have felt flattered, on fire, but she couldn't help rolling her eyes. Apparently, that wasn't the reaction he was going for. "You don't believe me?" he asked, his interest melting into concern.</p><p> </p><p>"Hot isn't a word that's usually associated with me," she sighed, shrugging. Dwayne started to interject but she went on. "I mean I know I'm decent. I'm not bad to look at, but it's the ten foot blondes with plastic boobs that are hot. It's the exotic looking catwalk tigers or sexy Instagram influencers and all that. I fall more into the line of cute and adorable," she muttered darkly, playing with the hem of the top.</p><p> </p><p>"And what's the matter with that?" he asked, reaching to help her with the hem and smirked when she smacked his hand away. </p><p> </p><p>She shot him a look that was intended to intimidate the biggest linebacker but came off like a six-year-old glaring at some cooty-filled boy on the playground. "Cute girls don't attract attention. They don't get the guy when it comes down to it."</p><p> </p><p>"And just what guy are you trying so hard to get?" he asked dryly, pinching just above her knee when she blushed, laughing when she nearly shot out of her skin at the touch.  "I can't speak for every guy, but you happen to be just my type. What?" he asked at her patronizing look.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, I am not!" she challenged, unruffled by his narrowed eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"What makes you think you're not my type?" he challenged.</p><p> </p><p>Her voice oozed sarcasm as she tilted her head to the side. "Well, let's see...for one thing, Brandi."</p><p> </p><p>His expression was so blank that it had to be sincere. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. "Who?"</p><p> </p><p>"Tall as a redwood, bleach blonde, no brains, implants...the chick you and Paul took down together when I first got here," she finally said at his continual blank stare. </p><p> </p><p>"Oh, her," he agreed, recognition sparking in his eyes though not any real care. </p><p> </p><p>Jinny rolled her eyes heavenward. "Her and the legion of other girls that look like they stepped out of a Victoria Secret catalog, or they’re at least trying their damnedest to look that way. The one from the other night-" He nodded as he got where her line of attack was going, suddenly dropping the sexual edge for the moment.</p><p> </p><p>"I hate to tell you this, but we usually don't hunt the same kind of girl we're attracted to. At least I don't and I'm fairly sure Paul doesn't," he replied seriously.</p><p> </p><p>"You seemed to enjoy them enough," she muttered, two seconds from jumping off him and running to some unknown safety. The next time she saw David she'd deck him one for not giving her a separate space.</p><p> </p><p>"They're what we're used to. The Boardwalk attracts a lot of tourists and teens who are feeling their vibe and sowing their oats. We know girls with that kind of look are usually easy to get close to and make good eatin'!" he shot back, eyes closing as soon as he had let loose the damning words. "Look, I'm a guy, yes, okay, my head can be turned. I can be distracted, being a vampire doesn't change that. I'm not perfect," he sighed. "Sometimes sex is used before hunting...it's an easy distraction and it's fun," he admitted.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm so glad you're telling me this, I'm so relieved," she growled, lifting away. His hands were on her hips, of course, eyes trapping the rest of her.</p><p> </p><p>"It's the way we’ve done things, not the way it has to be. It’s not all the time, and it's meaningless. You’re the one here in my bed, wearing my damn coat. You think I’d let anyone get away with that? Besides, why would I want to kill people that reminded me of you? Why would I do that to myself?"</p><p> </p><p>"Anger management?" she shot back, but his reasoning calmed her somewhat, at least until another thought came to mind. Some men had affairs with women the complete opposites of their wives just to get the full buffet life had to offer, didn't they? "I just don't know," she finally whispered. "You seem sincere, but..."</p><p> </p><p>"You're still waiting for the other shoe to drop," he finished, though she couldn't tell if his irritation was at her or the situation that had gotten them there. "Or you think I'm putting you on," he added, and he was actually hurt or else a damn good actor. Jinny squeezed her mouth shut, unable to look him in the face. She hadn't even made it a week and already things were shot to hell.  "Then we really need tonight," he finally added, leaning back to study her with a quiet smile. "You can start by getting rid of this," he murmured, nodding to her attire. She figured that would come soon enough and wasn't surprised by the request. It was when he held her in place when she tried to stand and crawl off the bed that startled her.</p><p> </p><p>"What are you doing?" His hands were already working the jacket down her shoulders and back off her arms to pool behind her on the bed.</p><p> </p><p>"Stay right here. You can lift up when you need to," he added, his palm sliding up her thigh until his fingers just brushed against the leg of her shorts. Jinny’s frown deepened. The mood hadn't been right since the get-go, but now she really didn't like where this game was heading. </p><p> </p><p>"Then can't you...dim the lights or something? It would be more fitting," she added at the questioning look on his face.</p><p> </p><p>"I'd be able to see you perfectly either way. What's the matter, you don't want me to see you?" Even when she wasn't looking at him she couldn't escape him. His voice seemed to work its way inside her when she wasn't paying attention. </p><p> </p><p>"Not this close," she admitted softly.</p><p> </p><p>He quirked a smile that she caught in her peripheral vision. "Nothing I haven't seen before."</p><p> </p><p>She nodded, not knowing how to argue that. But then he had been caught up in the moment, high on the situation with his friend to egg him on...and now it was just him and her.</p><p> </p><p>"I suppose if you're that resigned I could always do it for you," he conceded, his voice taking on that tone that threatened to give her goose bumps.</p><p> </p><p><em>My luck it would involve me tied spread eagle and him using his fangs. </em>The mental image made her shiver, but it was also a way to lose control of the situation fast. "That's okay! I can do it," she quickly decided, tugging at the bottom of the cami, trying to find a safe place to set her eyes.</p><p> </p><p>"Watch me, Jin," he murmured, finger tugging her chin up. She nearly dropped her gaze as soon as her eyes hit his dark ones, but his face was encouraging, not the distant spectator she had expected. Holding her breath, she quickly tugged the top up and over her head, waiting for the disappointment, for him to realize what he'd had in his head the past few nights was simply a glorified daydream.  A low rumble caught her attention and she realized it was coming from the man underneath her. To her growing amazement his eyes were locked on her, busy soaking in every little detail of her bare torso. Her arms moved to cover herself but he was always going to be faster. His hands easily clasped her wrists as he shook his head. </p><p>           </p><p>"Beautiful," he sighed, grinning at her immediate deep blush. "Now the rest," he urged, dropping her wrists to tug at the pajama bottoms. She nodded and watched him carefully for any signs that he was putting her on or any hint of what he intended as she raised up and slowly tugged the waistband over her hips. Dwayne easily rolled over when her balance was off, reversing their position again with a smug smile as he finished yanking the boy shorts down her legs before they went sailing across the room. </p><p> </p><p>The vampire grinned down at her with an odd mix of smug experience and youthful excitement. "Tonight, I want to learn every inch of you, every scar, every freckle. I want to know every place you love to be touched, even those places you don't know about yet. I want to know everything that doesn't make you happy, all those places that frustrate you, all those you're proud of even if you don't admit it. I want to know all I can about you," he reasoned as his fingers occupied themselves in her hair. Jinny's breathing was shallow and she didn't even think to bat away the strands of dark hair that were dusting over her bare shoulder, potentially driving her crazy.</p><p> </p><p><em>Fuck, it’s worse than I thought. He’s actually looking for my shortcomings! </em>"That's quite alright," she sputtered, pushing at his shoulders, growling when all it gained her was a surprised look and not any movement on his part. "Get off me!"</p><p> </p><p>"What's wrong?" he asked, serious, but stone-still.</p><p> </p><p>"Look, <em>no </em>one needs to know me that close, <em>I</em>don't even want to know me that close!" she pleaded, wriggling in a way that under normal circumstances would have ended conversation right then and there.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne sighed and Jinny blinked when he gently rammed his forehead against her shoulder in frustration, muttering under his breath. It was so out of left field yet such a true gesture that she couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him. But only a little. With a conceding sigh of her own she patted the back of his head lightly. "I never claimed to be low emotional maintenance," she muttered.</p><p>           </p><p>"I get you’ve been through a lot. I don't know if anyone put those thoughts in your head, if you were raised to take modesty to the extreme, or if it happened from a lot of disappointment, but you're not doing yourself any favors."</p><p> </p><p>She almost defended herself, but paused to let his words sink in. And this from the one she had repeatedly given an especially hard time. If anyone had a right to turn and walk away in disgust, it was Dwayne, but he wasn't. Without realizing it, she absently ran her fingers deeper into his hair, eyes somewhere far away. "You and Paul...you keep insisting that I'm so special or something. Why do you keep toying with me like that?" she asked quietly, biting the inside of her lip when it took more than a little effort to keep her voice steady.</p><p> </p><p>He looked up at her, eyes not a mask but still somber. "We're not toying at all. We say it because it's true. The circumstances are sudden and weird, but it’s true." She started to correct him, but the fire in his eyes made her think better of it. "You keep telling yourself you don't deserve certain things, but you do. You deserve at least as much as anyone else, more in some circumstances. You shine when you let yourself, baby girl. When you don't lock yourself away, you shine," he murmured, fingertip gliding over her lower lip. </p><p> </p><p>She closed her eyes, focused herself so she didn't start shaking. It wasn't right to get carried away over silly words. His stillness from her shaking prompted her mouth to move. She couldn't just hold it in. "I don't get it! What <em>am </em>I to you?! Why all this trouble just for me?" she blurted, eyes flashing open to start at him with brutal accusation, as if one gaze could suddenly call a stop to all the nonsense and make him admit that it had all been another cruel charade. </p><p> </p><p>He smiled softly and leaned in until the tip of his nose slightly brushed hers. "Because you're my Jinny," he replied, effectively stopping every rebuttal she had in her arsenal before she could gather her defenses. His kiss was sweet and hot and she found herself unable to put up any more resistance - that only left her exhausted and frustrated, anyway.</p><p> </p><p>Despite her good sense, she was curious about these plans of his, even if they terrified her. His tongue traveled languidly over hers, exploring different points in her mouth before he pulled away to look at her thoughtfully. "What?" she asked, shifting uncomfortably when his eyes focused directly on her mouth, that same enigmatic expression on his face.</p><p> </p><p>"You don't have any upper canines," he remarked as if it were the most bizarre thing he'd ever heard of. Well, to him it probably was.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh, that," she nearly laughed, wondering why of all things he'd focus on that. "They're there. I was born missing some teeth so my incisors grew in right next to my front teeth and were a little longer than average," she explained. "It freaked my parents out as I grew older, so they had the dentist sand them down."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne blinked, face going from shocked to unsettled. "They had your teeth <em>cut down</em>!?"</p><p> </p><p>"They were big on looking normal. It didn't hurt or anything. It wasn't particularly pleasant, though. They use a dental equivalent of a hand sander, tastes like hell," she muttered, wrinkling her mouth in disdain. "And I liked my teeth the old way, but my folks didn't want people to talk, or for their sweet little girl to look like she was a..." She quickly trailed off.</p><p> </p><p>"Vampire," he finished, anyway, shaking his head in disgust. "Does it change anything for you? You can still eat alright?"</p><p> </p><p>She shrugged, sufficiently distracted from the night ahead of her. "Oh yeah, that's fine. Well...some meats if they're really tough, not so much, but it's not a hardship or anything. I’ve learned to work with it over the years. The doc got his, though," she snickered, lip twisting upwards deviously at that particular memory. "I bit him three times while he was doing the procedure. He finally had two hygienists hold me to the chair." She relaxed against his laughter, smirking slightly.</p><p> </p><p>"That doesn't surprise me at all. How old were you when this happened?"</p><p> </p><p>She blushed and ducked her head. "Late teens. Old enough to know better than to bite an authority figure," she admitted, unable to stop her own chuckle as he started up again. "I get caught up in the moment," she admitted.</p><p> </p><p>"That's one way to put it," he agreed, finger pads idly rubbing against her scalp. Without thinking she leaned into the blissful touch and purred, smiling dreamily. "You like that," he observed and she didn't have to open her eyes to feel his amused smile. </p><p> </p><p>"Mmhmm...love having my hair played with," she sighed, moving up against his hand as it buried itself in the strands of  that barely reached below her chin. <em>Gonna have to get that retouched and restyled sooner or later. </em>Her eyes snapped open and she growled at a light, experimental yank. "Not so rough!" she warned.</p><p> </p><p>"No pulling," he agreed, resuming his initial light caresses until she melted against his arm again. "Thought you might be one of those who liked a little tugging."</p><p> </p><p>"Hell no. Those are all masochists," she snorted. Dwayne shrugged nonchalantly and she only caught it because the mask fell so quickly. Without a word, Jinny fingered the nearest midnight strands, following them up slowly until her hand was nearly buried. The vampire's eyelids drooped slightly as he leaned against her hand, a lazy smile relaxing his mouth. "It's completely unfair that you have better hair than nine-tenths of the female gender," she muttered as the pad of her thumb circled against the slight warmth of his scalp. His lips parted, but he caught himself before any sound escaped.</p><p> </p><p>"Good genes and vampire blood," he admitted, voice slightly lowered and it was obvious his attention was more on the fingers working through his hair than what she was saying. </p><p> </p><p>"Uh-huh." She quickly filled her hand and tugged just hard enough for him to feel it. The effect was like turning on a light switch: instant and illuminating. He groaned, grinding his hips down into her before his eyes snapped open, startled. She gasped at the rougher contact but also granted him a triumphant smirk. "Alright, so not all are masochists...some are just demented," she corrected with a wink.</p><p> </p><p>"Why you sneaky-" he growled, cutting off with a strained gasp when she tugged again with a tad more force, laughing at how much that shook him. "Now who's being unfair? I'm supposed to be learning you," he added, arching into her hand when she scraped her nails softly down the back of his neck.</p><p> </p><p>"I like you like this. And I'm not supposed to learn you at all?" she countered, grinning when he shivered as she began to rub the same bit of skin with her fingertips.</p><p> </p><p>"There's time for that later-"</p><p> </p><p>"We can add it in now, makes it more fun...for me," she added, quickly wrapping a length of his hair round her hand and pulling lightly when he looked like he would protest. </p><p> </p><p>He grumbled and untangled her hand from his hair. "Don't tempt me to tie your wrists," he warned, though he said it with a teasing lilt to his voice. There was something about the way he said it that made her stomach flutter, but she wasn't quite sure if he was serious, wasn't quite sure if she would like it. He watched her reaction and smiled to himself. Whatever his intentions had been, her hands remained where he had deposited them at her sides. She tried to push back the queasy feelings that bubbled in her stomach, but once again found herself distracted when his fingertip brushed over her eyebrow and down her temple. "You have the prettiest eyes," he murmured, and her expression must have shown her confusion because he chuckled as his fingers brushed down her cheek. </p><p> </p><p>"They're nothing special, no fantastic color," she pointed out. </p><p> </p><p>His mouth drew up in a grin. "Still pretty. They light up when you’re excited, always filled with so much feeling." While her mind focused on finding some sort of attack point, his mouth went back to working under her jaw. She groaned and inadvertently found her hand rubbing against the hard muscle of his shoulder when he pressed long kisses up and down the curve of her neck. She should have been scared, should have feared those fangs, but it just felt so <em>good</em>. His fingers circled into her shoulders and the line of his body softly rubbed against hers as his full lips and tongue continued to find every sensitive spot in her neck. </p><p> </p><p>"God!" she hissed when he nipped under her ear, shuddering hard enough to prompt him to attack the sensitive skin with a full-on assault of lips, tongue, and the vaguest hint of teeth. Her head fell back on its own and Dwayne took the invitation, dipping his tongue teasingly in the hollow of her throat. Her fingers tightened in the sheets and her legs shifted just the slightest bit open. She could feel his full lips curve into a smile against her skin before he moved back up to her ear, his fingers lazily buried in her hair, tugging and toying with the strands at his whim. </p><p> </p><p>"So sensitive," he drawled and she gasped when a single fang slowly, carefully traced the shell of her ear. "So warm, so sweet," he murmured.</p><p> </p><p>“Sure, I’m a regular apple pie,” she snorted before his teeth skimmed down the side of her neck. She stiffened but his tongue soothed the faint scrapes almost before she could process them.</p><p> </p><p>"Wouldn't use fang until you're ready," he assured her between flicks of his tongue. "But it will be a thing. I know we’re technically bound through your leg, but I’ll feel better when I’ve got my own mark on you. But I want your first time to be special," he added, and she nearly laughed at such an odd comment. She wouldn't have taken him for one to really care about when he drew blood from her that much, wouldn't have thought he would have taken much of what he apparently had into consideration.  It should have freaked her out, but either she was getting used to the idea, or the thought of him sinking his teeth in while balls deep in her was admittedly a mental image she was filing away for later.</p><p> </p><p>"Though I can still mark you now," he added wickedly, and before she could gather his meaning or wriggle out from under him, his mouth sealed over the line of her neck and sucked insistently, his hands curling around hers when she tried to smack him.</p><p> </p><p>"What're you...hey!!" she hissed, though somehow the hard, almost-painful draw of his lips against her skin made her very warm in other areas. She tried to reach for his hair and he growled playfully, nipping her once before he pulled away with a very sly, very triumphant smirk on his face.  </p><p> </p><p>"There. That'll leave a nice, pretty little mark for a while," he drawled, stroking the tender skin with the backs of his fingers.</p><p> </p><p>"Thanks a lot. I can't heal overnight like you guys," she grumbled, wrinkling her nose as she rubbed the side of her neck, a small portion definitely more tender than the rest. </p><p> </p><p>"I know," he replied, looking totally pleased about the whole thing. "This way everyone'll know that you're mine..." he gave way to a thoughtful pause and chuckled. "Though if Paul sees it he'll probably give you a matching one on the other side," he admitted. “And I may add a few more just for our eyes to prove my point.”</p><p> </p><p>Jinny snorted. "Men. Why don't you just make it so I'm walking funny tomorrow - no, I didn't mean it!" she sputtered as Dwayne's grin. She braced herself, expecting him to go right for the goods, but instead his mouth slid down her shoulder, his fingers barely tracing down her arm. </p><p> </p><p>"Skin's so pale, honey," he chided as a tanned fingertip made its way down the line of her veins that stood out so easily against her skin before visiting each little branch that led to her palm, her fingers, and around to the other side. Jinny squirmed, slightly unsettled with how intensely he was scoping out her circulatory system, but from the feel of his pelvis against her it seemed to be more of a turn-on than anything else. </p><p> </p><p>"I burn easily. I try to avoid the sun if I can," she admitted, though from his grimace it seemed he had moved on to other points of interest. She leaned over and tried to see what it was that could have him disgruntled and smiled slightly at the lines of pale scars that dotted her skin from forearm to fingertips.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne's eyes rose to meet hers and a brow raised, even as wayward strands of hair fell in front of his eyes. "Care to tell me what those are from?"</p><p> </p><p>Jinny rolled her eyes and allowed a small snort of a sigh. "None of those are purposeful so you can cut out the big bad protector thing. They're all from work. It's no secret I'm a little bit of a klutz," she explained as she nodded to each in turn. "Iron, seam ripper, scissors, seam ripper, seam ripper, straight pins...." she trailed off and cleared her throat when the soft skim of his mouth brushed against each one in turn. "Sewing machine needle...um, leather n-needle," she managed as she nodded to a small dot of a scar where she had accidentally sent the tool through the web of skin between her fingers and thumb. Dwayne's eyes glittered as he flicked his tongue there, swirled it over the pale mark before moving on to the lines of her hand, each one getting the same soft, fluttering treatment from the very tip before he moved to the next, and then the next. Jinny moaned and absently ground her hips against his, though for some reason her mouth kept on talking. "That's nothing. Nearly broke my hand trying to repair the bobbin casing on an industrial machine once. On my other hand part of the side of a finger got worn down by a belt sander in middle school." She had to hold back her laughter when he closed his eyes and took a purposeful breath.</p><p> </p><p>"That's it, I'm wrapping you in bubble wrap whenever you leave the cave. Damn, girl, you need someone to look after you. Yes, you do," he added even as she opened her mouth to deny it. </p><p> </p><p>"Chauvenist," she muttered, then squeaked when his teeth came down on her fingertips.</p><p> </p><p>"Not hardly, I just don’t need you taking your arm off every time we go out for a ride.\," he grumbled around her fingers, then winced when she smacked him on the arm. "Hey! Here I am trying to be nice and you just start hitting on me!" he complained, and even threw in a pout for good measure. Jinny rolled her eyes and fell back onto the bed with a huff. </p><p> </p><p>"Serves you right for being mean." She expected him to roll his eyes and just keep going, but instead he smiled and ran his hand up her side, silently laughing when she twisted with grit teeth.</p><p> </p><p>"So what do I get if I'm nice?" he teased as his face lowered to her chest. </p><p> </p><p>Her arms rushed up to cover herself, her face reddened, and her body went stone still. "A pat on the head?" she offered. To his credit the vampire didn't say something stupid or sigh in frustration - he only waited for her to explain herself. "Look, you've been sweet so far, ignoring everything...but really, this is too much."</p><p> </p><p>"Ignoring everything?"</p><p> </p><p>"You're a good actor, truly, but-"</p><p> </p><p>Irritation was quickly becoming the dominant emotion of the evening. "What the hell are you talkin' bout, Jin? I'm not faking how I feel about you!" </p><p> </p><p>Her eyes rolled and her expression said that she clearly wasn't buying his words. "Oh come on, like you haven't noticed..."</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne shook his head, and she felt a brief twinge of pity when it seemed as if he was fighting a migraine. "Noticed?"</p><p> </p><p>"Look, I'm not like the other girls you've probably had-"</p><p> </p><p>His lip twitched. "You look like you're built the same to me. Everything's in its place," he added, his fingers slyly pinching her thigh. She yelped, but adamantly kept her arms in place.</p><p> </p><p>"Sure, you say that now, but just wait until it finally hits you!"</p><p> </p><p>"You gonna elaborate?"</p><p> </p><p>A painful look crossed her face as she mulled over her options, but she knew he wouldn't let her out of that bed without hearing her insecurities, and she couldn’t exactly walk things back now. Damn it. Why couldn't be a total pigheaded jerk the way he was supposed to be? "Well for one thing, I'm not all sleek and smooth and silky the way girls are supposed to be. I'm generally fuzzy. It's annoying," she grumbled.</p><p> </p><p>            Dwayne quickly took a glance over the front of her and shook his head in bewilderment. "Where do you think-"</p><p> </p><p>"Oh everywhere. And you can't just shave everything, believe me, that's more trouble than it's worth. Some I can wax, but yikes..." The redhead trailed off at the shake of the vampire's head. "What?"</p><p> </p><p>"I didn't notice anything unusual, Jin."</p><p> </p><p>"Uhhuh. I'm practically lupine," she grumbled, plucking at the silken strands on her forearms for emphasis. "And believe me, I've looked. It's like Santa Carla is home to the terminally smooth."</p><p> </p><p>He rolled his eyes. "God, this is a woman thing, isn't it? I can tell you that you're no different than anyone else I've ever been with in that respect. You think I'd want to get on someone who feels like a Barbie, all rubbery and shit?" he made a face and shuddered. "No thank you. Is that why you won't let me see your breasts?"</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head warily. "You didn't notice last time? Mine aren't exactly like...well, they're smushy." Her eyes narrowed as Dwayne tried very hard not to laugh.  "They <em>are</em>! It's not my fault. I’m not a teen anymore and I lost a lot of weight the past few years and no matter what I do not everything has toned up yet."</p><p> </p><p>"They say sex is great exercise," he managed before he had to dodge a pillow. </p><p> </p><p>"Be serious!"</p><p> </p><p>His face contorted in exasperation. "Well what do you want me to say? It's not like I can tell with you hidin' them from me," he added as his hands gently curled around her wrists and brought them down. Her tongue snaked out over her lower lip as she waited through his scrutiny. His hands curled under her breasts, fingers squeezing and tugging lightly. She mewed as he hands toyed with her skin and his fingers worked her nipples, softly fondling them between rough fingerpads.  "You feel soft and warm, everything you should. And I stand by what I said the first time I saw them: they're gorgeous." He traced a fingertip down her nipple to the skin of her breast and her eyes widened in horror when he began to skim over the series of pale stretch marks that ran from the swell of her flesh to her shoulder and under her arm. </p><p> </p><p>"What the hell are you doing!?" she hissed and tried to struggle out from under him. "Don't touch those!"</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne rolled his eyes but didn't stop. "It's amazing to me how many hang ups women have. God, no wonder you're so tense. For one, you can barely see them because your skin's so pale, and for another, what's the big deal? They show off how hard you've worked to get this way. Nothing wrong with taking pride in that," he pointed out as his nail began to skim up the next closest pale line, diverting only to swirl up to her nipple before beginning again. Her eyes widened when she realized she was leaning into his touch as he teased her so slowly. Nothing that stemmed from so much anxiety should feel anywhere near that good.</p><p> </p><p>He smirked and lowered his head, the tip of his tongue picking up where his fingers had left off, softly flicking a path from base to tip before going back again. He kept up the torment until she was wriggling under him, and finally relented by taking her nipple in his mouth, swirling it softly with his tongue. He slowly licked a path between her breasts and paused, chuckling. "And I'll tell you, implants are more annoying than you'd think. You go to feed from one of those chicks and come away with a mouth full of plastic." His face scrunched in disgust and she laughed at the surrealness of it all. His face settled into something thoughtful as his finger traced along her arm. "I like hearing you laugh. It's like for once you forget about all those fucked-up anxieties and just let yourself live."</p><p> </p><p>"I could say the same thing about when you smile." She hadn't actually meant to say it, and her eyes widened as soon as it was out of her mouth. He stared at her, and for once she couldn't think up a single smart-ass cover. It was cliche to think anything was passing between them, but it was as if there was some understanding in his eyes that she felt was echoed in her own. And then he smiled. It was a soft, real kind of smile, the kind one gave when they weren't trying to impress, when someone was who they really were. His hands skimmed down her abs and his mouth followed, and she just knew he took a sadistic pleasure whenever he "accidentally" hit one of her sensitive spots.</p><p> </p><p>His fingers traveled over her thighs followed by his mouth, and he didn't give her time to give commentary on the size of her thighs, instead showing his approval by lightly scraping the tips of his fangs in a path to her knee, sending electric sparks popping right under her skin's surface. She hissed and her legs involuntarily spread and were held that way when his palms closed over her ankles. </p><p> </p><p>"Dwayne," she whined, trying in vain to close her legs. His mouth tugged up in a grin and he shook his head, his cheek nuzzling against her inner thigh. She sucked in a sharp burst of air at the feel of his stubble against her skin, so close to where she was suddenly feeling so very warm. "Please," she managed despite her suddenly-dry throat. </p><p> </p><p>He chuckled and shook his head, his face almost completely shadowed by the fringe of dark hair that framed it. "Not yet." </p><p> </p><p>She pouted, but he ignored it with a chuckle, instead tracing his way down her right leg, pausing to tongue the nicks she'd given herself while shaving, the wounds that were still healing from when 'Michael' had nicked her during the night of their confrontation. She was a mess of anticipation and relaxation by time his hands wrapped around one foot, rubbing slow and easy, drawing her into a lull as his fingertips ran over the base of her foot.</p><p> </p><p>"You don't have to-"</p><p> </p><p>"But you like it, so why keep stopping us?" Dwayne stopped his ministrations and glanced up at her, clearly not willing to continue until she explained herself. </p><p> </p><p>It was too embarrassing to admit that she liked it a little too much. Her nose wrinkled and she made a face. "Because I just don't want to put you through something gross for my benefit. God knows they aren't the prettiest things around..." <em>Just like me,</em>she couldn't help but add to herself.</p><p> </p><p>His fingers tightened around her ankle and his eyes narrowed, not with anger but a protective cast. "You only make things harder on yourself when you think things like that," he growled. "I don't know how you got those thoughts in your head-"</p><p> </p><p>"Dwayne, it's just the way it is!" she snapped and folded her arms over her chest as she stared pointedly at the ceiling, closing her eyes against the sudden burning itch. "When I quit school my parents made it quite clear that I was a disappointment. That's when I started putting weight on, started retreating...the only reason my ex was with me was because he thought I’d be more of a sure thing, and I couldn’t even do that. The only things that gave me any sort of satisfaction was sewing and writing. I was good at them, I liked doing them. I made up my mind that if I wasn't smart and wasn't pretty I could at least have a couple of hobbies that made me want to keep going. Some days I think the only reason I really woke up was because I was just too much of a coward, couldn't do much to make things better, too chicken to take the other route."</p><p> </p><p>The snarl was enough to make her eyes snap open and Jinny shuddered at the pink cast in his eyes. "Listen to me," he growled. "You <em>are</em>smart, you <em>are</em>pretty, and you're obviously talented. If you weren't smart you wouldn't have thrown us for a loop. If you weren't talented your writing wouldn't have got you here. And if you weren't pretty you wouldn't have caught my eye, or Paul's. You deserve to be here." She started to open her mouth but wisely kept it shut at the warning shake of his head. </p><p> </p><p>"You are never, <em>ever</em>to treat yourself that way again. Ever. I don't care how bad it gets, nothing's worth talking that way about yourself, let alone acting on it, you understand me?" His voice was barely controlled and his grip shook on her ankles. </p><p> </p><p>She nodded slowly, found it only slightly weird that he'd care. "Yes, I understand." That didn't quite seem to do it for him judging by the skeptical look on his face. "I won't do it again, Dwayne. Ever," she assured him. "I promise, okay? I'm not in that place anymore. I haven't been for a long time. Things did get better. I started a little shop with a friend of mine, got my own apartment. It was never great, but it was better than it had been. I promise, okay?" She didn't know why she was so adamant to reassure him, why it struck her so hard that he even cared or that she wanted his approval so damn much.  </p><p> </p><p>He nodded slowly. "I'm trusting you on that." Her eyes widened. It wasn't an easy thing for him to say, that much was obvious. Trust was not something he readily gave except to the other boys and she wasn't about to stomp on such a rare gift. She expected him to be done for the evening, but that train of thought was sufficiently derailed when the edge of his nail slowly, carefully traced a line over each scar. She hissed and wriggled as the point of contact traveled to the more sensitive regions of her sole and squirmed when he circled his thumb over a spot that should not have made her as happy as it did. </p><p> </p><p>She flushed at the whimper that escaped her throat, though it really was Dwayne's fault. After all, he was the one sliding his rough palms up the insides of her legs, he was the one just barely brushing his nails over the crease of her thigh, he was the one trailing the ends of his hair across the tops of her ankles, and then her knees, and up her thighs, bringing his mouth with its wistful leer so close to her-</p><p> </p><p>Inevitably his eyes focused on his goal and she winced when his grip unconsciously tightened on her legs. "Who the hell did <em>that</em>!?" he growled, and Jinny's fingers instantly dug into the mattress at the sight of hellfire red eyes inches from her most tender area. </p><p> </p><p>"Wha-"</p><p> </p><p>"You couldn't have done that...who <em>did</em>that?! I'll fucking kill 'em, I'll make them wish they'd have a slow death-"</p><p> </p><p>She shook her head and tried to wriggle out of his grip, but he was having none of it. Her heart beat double time in her chest as his face changed and fury charged every move he made. "W-what are you talking about!?"</p><p> </p><p>            "<em>That</em>! I thought Paul said you had never been hurt besides what you told him!" he hissed, and nodded to her pelvis. Jinny frowned and followed his gaze down and down. She didn’t see anything out of place right away: there were the bits that every woman had, a fine triangle of hair that was just starting to grow in. She followed her skin towards the top of her hairline and froze, forcing her teeth to bite her cheek so she wouldn't laugh. </p><p> </p><p>"That scar?" she asked, nodding to the pale line on the right side of her mons. Before he could go into another fit, she continued. "Um, Dwayne?" He seemed lost in his haze of fury, and she didn't want an appendage taken off, but.... "A doctor did that," she finished, carefully nudging him with her foot.</p><p> </p><p>He blinked and immediately was himself again, though thoroughly confused. "What?"</p><p> </p><p>Jinny rolled her eyes. "Dwayne, that happened when I was like seven. I had hernia surgery! No one tried to do anything to my honor," she insisted. It wasn't funny, but to see him all worked up over something so trivial, especially given how fast he had been ready to take off some poor person's head that he couldn't even logically get to.</p><p> </p><p>He gave her a hard, searching look and she could feel the barest brush of his mind in hers. "You're sure?"</p><p> </p><p>She rolled her eyes. "I'm positive. I was there for the whole thing. Walking was not a pleasant activity afterwards, though it got me out of gym class for weeks." He nodded, apparently satisfied that she wasn't trying to put him on. Jinny fought a sigh; the evening certainly had been nowhere near what she had expected. She'd expected a lot from Dwayne, but not the stop-start pace of the evening, or his up close and personal attentions, or that he would actually care about any of the things he'd noticed.  Her libido wasn't quite sure which way to turn and her brain was threatening to rev up and not back down lightly. He wasn't at all what she had expected, and yet things still seemed just as hard to come to grips with. Just when she had discovered something about him, it seemed to change, to alter just a little bit. And with all that he was finding about about her, how the hell could he even still want to go on?</p><p> </p><p>It took her a few seconds to register the wet heat on her navel, but when she did her eyes instantly locked with Dwayne's. That was about all she could move - even breathing was proving laborious as she struggled to not wriggle out of control from the warmth that was flooding her bloodstream. He chuckled and continued, the tip of his tongue swirling and prodding around the small bump of skin, sending delicious sensations directly to her core. "You should get this pierced," he commented, as if they hadn't taken five hundred detours in the past hour. "It'd be so hot, Jin, you have no idea," he added, and then actually groaned at the thought before he continued the teasing lapping that was threatening to make her crawl up the bed. Her face must have been a complete blank- god knew she had no clue what she was feeling at the moment, save entirely confused - because he glanced up at her and shrugged. "It's not like you have to, though it could be a lot of fun," he went on, sliding his hands over her hips as his mouth slid southward.</p><p> </p><p>"Wait," she groaned, though the back of her mind promised mutiny for such a stupid action. "I...you...what just happened?!" she managed.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne blinked and pulled his mouth away so he could search her face to figure out the source of her outburst. "It was just a suggestion-"</p><p> </p><p>"Five seconds ago you were ready to kill my pediatrician, and ten seconds before that you were all protective, and now you're talking about body jewelry. I...are we still...I'm so confused!" she sighed and fell back into the pillows. No orgasm was worth such a runaround. </p><p> </p><p>The vampire chuckled and kneaded her hips in his palms. Despite her irritation, she found herself anticipating his touch, damn him. "Just because I may not love everything you do, or because I make wrong assumptions, or jump the gun, or something like that...none of that means..." he paused, as if looking for the proper wording, and she was sure that at least some of his vampire confidence mask dropped over his eyes. "That doesn't mean I want you any less, that I don't care about you."</p><p> </p><p>She nodded, slightly disappointed about his last sentence, and yet it was a revelation. It hadn't occurred to her that he'd even want to bother with those things, that anyone would want to know that much, that it was even possible to find something worth caring for. And not only did he accept the shortcomings, but he still wanted to be intimate with her. "Believe me, Jin, I've done far worse than you ever have." She wasn't sure if he read her thoughts or her face to come up with his analysis, but he was right on. Strangely, the brown in his eyes was deep and just slightly vulnerable, as if he couldn't decide whether or not he wanted to show any emotion about the matter. "I'm amazed you're still here. That you'd even want to be in bed with me."</p><p> </p><p>It was the oddest admission she'd ever heard and she was sure her face reflected that. "How in heaven's name could you say that?!" she blurted and pushed herself up to a sitting position. He blinked and followed her with his eyes, though he remained sprawled to her side. "Do you have any idea how many people would kill to be where I am? How many people would probably give you an easier time?" Jinny shook her head, the adrenaline, the confusion, all of it buzzing hard in the center of her brain. "You want to know why I was scared to death? Jesus, Dwayne, do you have any idea how close to perfect you are?" Her brain was screaming at her to stop and his raised eyebrows should have immediately deterred her, but her mouth had run away yet again. Here she was pouring out her inner feelings to one of the fiends that had hunted her, tricked her, run around on her...and yet she still craved his approval. She needed therapy, or she needed to get laid more than she had thought. </p><p> </p><p>"You've got the looks, the attitude, the bike, the connections, the confidence..." She paused when the vampire retreated into himself, probably because he had heard all of those reasons time and again. He was badass, he could protect a girl, he was ungodly hot. The redhead pursed her lips and shook her head. If she was going to never here the end of it, then she would give him something to talk about. "But that's only first glance. I mean, that's what intimidated me. That's what scared me. But here and now..."</p><p> </p><p>Her tongue was stuck when he suddenly looked up, face passive but ears clearly perked. She swallowed hard and urged herself on. "You're sweet, you actually listen and pay attention...you seem to have all these different interests that make you a deep person, and you actually take my feelings into consideration. You've challenged me, but you haven't forced me, you just sat there and found all my weak spots and still are plowing on ahead. You put new sheets on your bed, just for me." She had to look away. She was so close to losing it, to being the idiot, soppy female she hated reading about. "God, you're fucking perfect. The idiots may want you for your looks, but they'll never know how lucky they could be," she sighed and flopped back on the bed, one arm draped over her face. "And here I am with you. Just me."</p><p> </p><p>There wasn't any noise for a long moment and she assumed he'd fled to saner ground. Slowly the bed shifted and his legs brushed against hers, and his hand gently took her wrist and moved it from her face. "Yeah, you're with me. You. Not anyone else, Jin." He sighed. "I know it's confusing, but you're <em>with</em>me. No one else. " She stared off at the print on the wall, convinced that if she didn't blink she could be sucked into it and saved from the impending humiliation that would come from him seeing the wet streaks on her face. </p><p>           </p><p>There was another long moment before the damp strands of hair were nudged from around her eyes and a long finger softly began brushing at the tear stains. "I'm the furthest thing from perfect there is, honey. You know that. I hate it when people think that the surface is all I am. It's demeaning, and I know you feel the same. I mean look at you - you've noticed more about me tonight than any other woman I've known." It wasn't the Dwayne she was used to hearing. He wasn't brash or demeaning or the way he was on the boardwalk, and he wasn't the seductive Cassanova from nights before. He sounded so awed that she had even figured out the most trivial things about him. Beneath that there was something deeper down, some hurt that had shaped his view on people, something that he had just eventually come to grips with until suddenly being challenged to adjust his vantage point. </p><p> </p><p>She turned her face, incredulous. "But, it's so obvious-"</p><p> </p><p>"Because you look for it," he finished, thumb circling on her cheekbone. "Just like I go looking for things. A book isn't judged by the cover, or even the first chapter," he added, smiling slightly. "Most are comfortable to admire a pretty picture." His fingertips traced her cheek as his eyes studied her. She was positive the sparse amount of makeup she'd put on was running, her nose was probably red, her eyes were definitely puffy, yet he wasn't grossed out at all. </p><p>           </p><p>"I'm not most people," she whispered and skimmed her own fingers along the back of his hand. </p><p> </p><p>"Neither am I," he countered and wrapped his hand around hers before pressing it to his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>Something finally clicked inside her head. Maybe it was easier with Paul because he just hadn't given her a chance to freak out, but Dwayne was always going to give her more space to a point. There was that strange sensitivity deep down, but it was something he'd never show willingly. He was so alpha to guard that other part of him, to keep it from getting trodden on by all the idiots that made so many assumptions. But he was more than a pretty face on a poster now. He was someone to fear, but also someone to respect, and someone that was fast on the way to prying open another part of her heart. She was so screwed in the emotional department it wasn't even funny.</p><p> </p><p>She pushed that jaded cynicism towards the back of her mind - she'd enjoy whatever he'd give. If that's all she could do, then she'd damn well do it. His lips skimmed her cheek, tongue flicking up the salt of her tears as his mouth traveled down to her mouth and she found that she could meet his kiss without any of her former apprehension about what was behind that emotionless face of his. </p><p> </p><p>His mouth was sweet and cool against hers, tender at first then slowly urging her on, making her taste him, daring her to be more urgent with him. It was hard to believe this was the same man that had been the first to suggest her demise, or the one that had scared the shit out of her on so many occasions. He wasn't what he seemed to be at all...no, that wasn't right. There were so many parts to him it was all too easy to give him the simplest label.</p><p> </p><p>"Stop thinking," he grumbled against her mouth before his tongue pressed deeper, slowly turning on some hidden switch that triggered warmth clear down to her toes. Jinny raised a hand up, hesitated, then slowly sank her fingers into his hair.  He rumbled into her mouth and pressed closer, gaining a smile from her lips pressed against his. She must have been totally deranged because the next step seemed all too reasonable - she slid her tongue deep into his mouth, teeth and all.</p><p> </p><p>He was clearly startled when her mouth slanted against his, but wasn't about to complain. Her fingers toyed with the soft strands before tugging lightly, gaining an eager response from the vampire. His hand wandered over her side as she snuggled closer, content to pass the domination of the kiss back and forth until he slowly released her with a playful tug on her lower lip. She stared up at him, hazel eyes wide, lips slightly parted, mind completely blown. "What the hell just happened?" she managed between pants. "My hormones are so confused.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne seemed to be in a similar state. He shook his head and raised up on his elbow. "I have no idea, but yeah, my poor cock doesn't know what to expect," he sighed plaintively. He looked so torn over the issue that she didn't feel badly at all about socking him in the arm. He rolled his eyes and nudged her with his foot. </p><p> </p><p>"I suppose I could make things better, if you wanted me to," she drawled as she leaned up. From her vantage point it seemed like he definitely wanted her to. Despite her revelations about his character, his size clearly hadn't changed and while she wanted to do it for him, she couldn't quite get over the slight trepidation of having to navigate the act again. </p><p> </p><p>"Tonight's about you," he insisted, and before she could protest he had tugged her back against him. "Despite what you think, you're gorgeous through and through. If you can't trust yourself on that, then at least listen to me. Let me be your mirror," he whispered against her lips and her eyes widened, immediately recognizing the Velvet Underground reference. She never would have pegged him for that, and he smiled at her quiet shock. "Let me please you, take my own pleasure in yours." It was so bizarre to hear him say something like that, was one of those things that made her wonder about his true age. One minute he'd be such a typical boy and the next he'd be spouting things like <em>that</em>.</p><p> </p><p>She wanted to protest, to assure him that she was willing to try, that she didn't mind, that she wanted to prove she was okay with him - hell, more than okay with him. But then she saw the set of his jaw, the slight cover over his eyes and realized that it wasn't so much different than how she could be. Didn't she mentally brace herself every time she was afraid to find out the truth? Hadn't she tried to go on the offensive to save her hide and her dignity their first night together? The only real difference was that she could never convince him of things in one evening and he wasn't about to let her past his guard, no matter how much they had shared. It had to happen on his own, or he had to be slowly convinced. But it was obvious by how swiftly he leaned in to capture her mouth again that he wasn't about to let her get a word in edgewise. </p><p> </p><p>His mouth guided hers, back to domineering if not aggressive, though she found it easier to accept his taste, his touch, the feel of his fangs just barely touching her tongue. When she finally melted once more into the pillows he drew back and returned his mouth to her navel with a wink. Obsidian hair splayed over her abs, making her hiss at the tortuous softness that she couldn't get away from, that was made so much worse with every movement of his head. And he knew he was doing it, too, damn him, if his smirk was any indication. </p><p> </p><p>Her hand lifted to smack his shoulder, but the motion stalled when that sinful tongue swirled into her navel, toying with the flesh, the teasing glint in his eye suggesting very well what he'd rather have his mouth on. She tried to swallow back her moan but it was no use, and her hand shook and fell back on the bed. His hair fluttered with the movements of his head against her stomach, the ends of the dark strands exacting their own soft torture up and down her midsection. "No fair," she growled, and shrieked when his fingers attacked the sensitive skin just below her waist.</p><p> </p><p>"Very fair," he countered, face and voice once more filled with the cocky sin that made her nervous and excited all at once. "Anything that gets you that riled up is more than fair," he went on as his hands smoothed down over her pelvis, the edges of his thumbs just grazing her hairline as his palms pressed against her thighs. </p><p> </p><p>Jinny's breathing sped up as Dwayne lowered his mouth, though a low growl of frustration ripped from her throat when his tongue dragged in a long swipe over the place that made her twist and grit her teeth. "Stoppit! I hate that!" she panted. It got her too worked up for a random patch of skin, was too close to the sensations that she was dying for without actually providing release. </p><p> </p><p>He grinned down to his fangs and rested his chin on her thigh. "I can't help it. You taste too good," he replied innocently, if there was such a thing with him. Before she could get in a good retort he pressed his open mouth to her inner thigh, causing warmth to flood through her stomach. "Even where it doesn't count, even where it's innocent," he rasped as his hand slid down to her knee before slowly wandering back up again. "Do you have any idea how sweet you taste Jinny?" he whispered, and it was like she was back in the tunnels that first night, heart pounding as he stalked her, taunted her, as his voice closed in from everywhere at once. "Even just your skin...sweet mixed with salt, so warm...your hot blood pulsing just inches from the surface." She had no idea how something like that could be considered sweet talk, but it was the way he said it that set her at ease and made her wet. The roughness of his cheek ground into her thigh and she shouted out, jerking towards him impatiently. </p><p> </p><p>"And just think, it's that blood that brought us together right here," he murmured as his mouth closed over the area of her leg that he had helped to heal, that spot that she both secretly thrilled at and cursed with her whole being on a daily basis. She held her breath as the points of his fangs skidded over the tender skin. He could have sunk down to the bone so easily if he really wanted to, could have done a lot of things if he really wanted to. The thought of how potentially helpless she was should have scared her, but it only served to heighten her arousal.</p><p> </p><p>            Jinny whined in the back of her throat and Dwayne chuckled as he continued to torture her leg with lips and teeth. "You're burning hot for me, aren't you gatita?" he rumbled,. "I can smell how hot you are." If his comments didn't make her blush then the sharp move of his head so that his face was directly in line with her pussy sure did.</p><p> </p><p>"Dwayne-"</p><p> </p><p>"Shh. You're beautiful, especially here." Her throat closed up at the blunt comment and she struggled to wrap her mind around that. He was watching her, though most of his focus was between her legs. If he went into even greater detail she wouldn't be able to handle it. His lips quirked but didn't move to speak or taste, or anything else that she would have begged for. Instead he lightly pressed his fingertips over her mons, rubbing slow, tracing the slope of her before he came to her lips, parting her with short, gentle strokes that she could just barely feel. </p><p> </p><p>"Dwayne, don't make me beg-"</p><p> </p><p>"Just be patient," he teased, his expression clearly one of enjoyment as he clasped a lip between two fingers, rubbing slow before lightly tugging. She hissed and arched and he did it again. "So soft...Jesus, Jin, do you know how much you make my mouth water?" he growled, his eyes black when they flicked up to her face right as his thumb swept over her clit. She mewed and squirmed, but couldn't do much else. "Do you?" he repeated, and slowly pushed his fingertip into her. She took a quick breath at the invasion, even though he had barely entered her. Again, it was the way he did it, with short rubbed circles of his finger pad that threatened to drive her nerve endings into a frenzy.  "Do you know what you do to me when I see you all worked up like this?" he whispered, voice soft and strong as silk ties that bound her just as easily. "Do you know how hard I get seeing you all laid out just for me?" he went on, voice roughening as he gave her more of his finger, thrusting it slow and deep into her channel. </p><p> </p><p>"No," she whimpered, hips squirming against the mattress as he kept a steady rhythm, all the while watching her face with rapt fascination. Her head fell back and she groaned when he suddenly added another digit, fingers scissoring and twisting in her the longer it took her to form an answer. "Show me," she gulped, half-astounded at her own ready display in front of him. </p><p> </p><p>"You aren't going to be scared of me if I do?" he drawled, eyes glittery as he leaned his mouth down and stopped just short. Jinny growled low in her throat but couldn't fight the delicious torture he was creating inside her. </p><p> </p><p>"Dwayne, I swear to god if you don't put your mouth to my goods in two seconds I'm going to start singing Cher-" her threat broke off into a ragged cry as he pressed down on her gspot and smirked. </p><p> </p><p>"Now you're just being mean. Maybe I should stop-"</p><p> </p><p>"Dwayne! Please, please," she begged, mind too far lost in the thick haze of pleasure to even care about her shameless begging. </p><p> </p><p>She wasn't sure what registered first, his chuckle or the tongue that traced around her lips so slowly as his fingers sunk deep and twisted before continuing their ministrations. Jinny groaned and let her legs fall as open as they comfortably could, teeth grit against the tickling hairs that swept up along the insides of her thighs and just barely brushed against her mons. </p><p> </p><p>Jinny had no clue what she was murmuring or gasping out, but his attentions were damn well worth her turning into a blathering idiot. His tongue traced every bit of her tender flesh, parting her inner lips and swiping over each one, teasing them apart as he slid his fingers out of her to make room for his mouth.</p><p> </p><p>Her mouth fell open in a short groan as he began to circle her opening, tracing out the path closer and closer to where she wanted to be filled before slowly slanting his mouth over her pussy so he could give her his tongue. She squealed and bucked against his face as he curled and flicked his tongue inside her before wrapping his lips around her clit and sucking, drawing her ever closer to the fire that would give her release.</p><p> </p><p>She didn't have a clue what was happening to her. It was good but she wanted more, wanted to go out of her mind and wanted to drag him right along with her. Maybe it was the way he was staring at her with the bold confidence she envied, maybe she just felt guilty, but for whatever reason she tucked her knees up, placed her feet against his shoulders, and pushed.</p><p> </p><p>The vampire was unaccustomed to that sort of reaction, but was even more unprepared for her launching herself at him. He'd been using his hand to get off, and while she was touched by his generosity it also ticked her off that he was so afraid he'd scare her off by getting his goods anywhere near hers. She'd never match his strength, but with surprise on her side it was deliciously easy to wrestle him onto his back. </p><p> </p><p>His eyes were wider than she would've thought possible, almost reminiscent of the old Bela Lugosi flicks and she fought the laugh that he'd inevitably misinterpret. Instead Jinny settled herself on his upper thighs, momentarily glorying in her position before grabbing at the hands that moved to lift her back off.</p><p> </p><p>"What're you-" Dwayne's protests cut off in a hiss when she ground her hips against his, which made it all too easy (and fun) to press his wrists into the mattress. </p><p> </p><p>"I appreciate it, really I do, but I want you to get yours, too. I can't take this tiptoeing, Dwayne, not tonight," she managed, shaking under the surge of desire at seeing him sprawled out and at her mercy. Maybe that was how he felt seeing her like that. It was a heady sensation, a delectable sight: his dark skin against the even darker blue sheets, hair mussed everywhere, eyes somewhere between desire and panic, mouth open in confusion. And he smelled so masculine, felt so hard and ready against her. Oh yeah, she could get used to that - once in a while, at least. "I need more than pleasantries. I need my mind blown," she added before pressing her mouth down on his. It took him a moment, but he slowly opened to her, and when the muscles underneath her began to relax she carefully raised herself and then contemplated the logistics. It took both of her hands to hold his, she needed her eyes to see what she was doing, and she couldn't exactly aim blind. He looked up at her, bemused, and easily slid his hands out from under hers. "Hey-"</p><p>           </p><p>"Just giving you a hand," he insisted as his palms clasped her hips and raised her over his hard cock. "You sure?" he asked, his wicked expression briefly losing its fire.</p><p> </p><p>Jinny nodded hard. "I need it so bad, Dwayne."</p><p> </p><p>His grin was like a damn beacon as he flipped her onto her back and pressed his tip against her dripping entrance. "Then let me give it to you."</p><p> </p><p>She expected a repeat of the other night, him backing off every half-inch, teasing her, testing the waters, taking forever. To her relief he took it slow, but also slid in in one slow, full thrust. Her eyes snapped shut and she shuddered at how full he made her, how it took a few seconds to adjust, seconds that he readily gave her. "Better?" he asked wryly and she nodded immediately.</p><p> </p><p>"Oh yeah. So good," she agreed, and just to knock the smirk off his face she wriggled against his pelvis, gasping at the sparks that caused, but also laughing at his startled hiss. </p><p> </p><p>"Someone's in a mood," he growled, mouth by her ear as he began to rock against her, his thrusts short and teasing.</p><p> </p><p>Jinny groaned and leaned her head back, tried to at least breathe. "Your fault. You got me this way," she shot back as her hands slid over his shoulders, then down his sides. "Fuck me, give it to me, please," she panted, pressing her mouth into the side of his neck. He groaned and sped his thrusts, arched his hips into hers to deepen each stroke. She mewled as fire rippled inside her, drawing her ever-closer to her goal. </p><p> </p><p>"C'mon Jin, come for me, come hard on me," he urged, and he shook against her chest trying to hold himself back. She knew how he felt, to be so close but not quite there, to need something else, just another slight edge....</p><p> </p><p>His fingers toyed with her clit and she nearly came on the spot, but was distracted by his clenched face, his slightly open mouth showing the barest hint of fang. She had to be crazy, utterly, completely mad, but she reached up and hauled him down by the back of his neck and pressed his face against her throat. "Do it if it'll make you feel better. You...you can bite," she whispered, though it was tiny sort of voice for such a big decision.</p><p> </p><p>Dwayne froze, completely still in and on her for a long series of her heartbeats. Finally, his mouth opened and his tongue softly swiped against the skin of her pulse, but he shook his head. "Not time yet, kitten. I'm not gonna be selfish and have you scared all over again."</p><p> </p><p>"But-" Her argument was cut off by a sharp move of his hips. She grit her teeth and tried to hold her own release. "Dwayne, I want to give you <em>something</em>!"</p><p> </p><p>He paused again, his eyes thoughtful and barely restrained. She wondered if he'd cave if she asked again, but he didn't give her a chance. "You've already given me more than enough tonight, baby girl." With a toss of his head his hair flicked over his shoulder. "I won't bite you tonight, but you can bite me."</p><p> </p><p>Her eyes widened and he chuckled. "Won't mark me again or anything. That's said and done. But I wouldn't mind feeling your teeth on my skin." It made sense. He was a vampire, he was used to harder sensations, but she wasn't sure if that was something she could just haul off and do.</p><p> </p><p>And then he slid nearly all the way out and thrust back in to the hilt, his fingers all the while mercilessly circling her clit. The orgasm crashed over her like a wave and her legs locked up around his waist, fingers and nails digging into his biceps as her mouth slid to his throat.</p><p> </p><p>She was startled by his shout as her teeth sunk into him, as he pulsed into her with his own release. It only pushed her higher and she found herself shaking under him, clinging to him, wanting that moment to last as long as it possibly could. </p><p> </p><p>When the world stopped spinning she was curled up beside him, still curled against his chest, still panting. "Man," she breathed, and he gave a ragged chuckle.</p><p> </p><p>"No kidding. Jesus, we weren't kidding when we called you a wildcat." She stuck her tongue out at him and examined his wounds, relaxing when the inspection proved that she hadn't drawn blood. </p><p> </p><p>Dwayne smiled slightly and nuzzled her throat. "It's pretty hard to wound us. I wouldn't have let you bite if I thought you would've made me bleed. We have tougher skin than most humans," he explained before pressing his mouth to hers in a sweet, lingering kiss. "Thank you," he whispered against her mouth. "That was so hot."</p><p> </p><p>She laughed and ducked her head. "I don't know what came over me. You're a bad influence." </p><p> </p><p>He laughed and grinned. "Pretty good one if it gets you to do things like that. Damn, girl." He sobered momentarily, as if something was needling the back of his brain. "How did you know I bought new sheets for you?" </p><p> </p><p>Jinny smirked. "You left the price tag on the pillowcase." He glanced over her shoulder and nodded in agreement. </p><p> </p><p> "Knew I forgot something." He shrugged and stretched, the muscles of his torso shifting against her. "You feel like a bath?"</p><p> </p><p>She raised an eyebrow. She'd grown used to Paul falling asleep or chattering until sleep afterwards, and the invitation touched her. "I'd love one."</p><p> </p><p>To her surprise his face was almost shy. "Can I join you? We don't have to-"</p><p> </p><p>She couldn't help it, he was too cute when he was distressed, even if it was a weird sort of cute. Jinny leaned up and pressed her mouth against his. "Yes, you can." His grin made him look like the teenager he wasn't and he immediately yanked her out of bed and herded her down the way towards the bathing room.</p>
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